Disarmed
by ALEO
Summary: Most people would do anything to save a parent, even if it means putting innocents and other family in danger. NB: Sequel to Failure and Vigilante Terrorist. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

**Numb3rs – Disarmed**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.

_**A/N:**__ Finally. This one kinda got away on me, ending up much longer than I had planned. Looks like 16 chapters. Enjoy…_

_CHAPTER ONE_

-100-1111-1110-

In the FBI's LA Field Office the insistent buzzing of the phone finally made its way into his thoughts. Without looking up from the report he was reading he reached out and snagged the handset off its cradle. "Eppes."

"_Is this Special Agent Don Eppes?"_

"Yes it is." He stopped reading the report and concentrated on the call. He glanced at his watch in case he had to start a report. 1355hrs, almost 2pm. "Who is this?"

"_Sergeant Tony Markham of the LAPD Crisis Negotiators_."

"What can I do for you, Sergeant?"

"_We have a situation down here at CalSci_." The sergeant explained. "_A masked man has taken a number of people hostage in the math department_…"

Don's fingers cramped painfully causing him to realise how tightly he was holding the handset. He forced his hand to relax as he tried to concentrate on the voice in his ear.

"…_and he has asked specifically to speak to you_." The sergeant continued. "_Do you know anyone down here?_"

Don had to swallow before he could get his mouth to work. "Yes. My brother, Doctor Charles Eppes, is one of the professors there. Do you have a list of hostages?"

"_No, not as yet. We're questioning everyone we've evacuated trying to piece together a list_._ All we have is that there are five hostages and one HT armed with a handgun_."

"Any ID on the offender?"

"_No_."

"Any other demands?"

"_He refuses to speak with me. Just repeats his demand to speak to you_."

"When did this happen? How did it happen?"

"_A little over an hour ago a masked man came out of a restroom and headed directly to the math offices. There he produced his weapon taking five people hostage and barricading himself into an office. We got the call shortly after that and I've been on site for half an hour_." Markham answered. "_Are you in a position to attend?_"

"Yeah, we're on our way." Don was already standing and grabbing his jacket and keys. He replaced the handset on the cradle and looked around to see his team waiting. They'd heard enough from Don's end of the conversation to have a fair idea what was happening.

"Is Charlie okay?" Megan asked.

"I don't know." Don said as he led the way to the lift. He gave a terse briefing as the lift descended to the garage.

The moment the black Chevy Suburban peeled out of the garage Don was dialling Charlie's cell phone number.

"_Hi_…" Charlie's cheerful voice came over the speaker.

"Charlie!" Don started then realised that the voice was continuing heedlessly.

"…_this is Charlie Eppes and you have reached my voicemail. Please leave a message_."

Don hung up then punched out the number to Charlie's home. The phone rang out. Already making a fast pace through the late lunch time traffic, Don pressed the accelerator of the powerful SUV closer to the floor. Every few minutes he would retry Charlie's cell number with the same recorded message greeting him.

It felt like an eternity had passed before the SUV finally pulled through the police outer cordon and into the parking lot outside the math building at CalSci. A black sedan screeched to a halt a second behind. David and Colby had been hard pushed to keep up with their boss on the wild ride through the streets. Their saving grace was the fact that Don had to push his way through the traffic; they just had to stick as close as possible to the SUV's rear bumper before the cars could fill back in. The sirens had barely started to fade as the FBI agents leapt from the vehicles to be intercepted by a LAPD patrolman.

"FBI." Don flashed his badge. "Where is Sergeant Markham?"

"This way, sir." The patrolman led them over to a large truck. He knocked on the door and waited. When the door opened a few inches he announced the new arrivals.

The door opened a little further and a head poked out. "He'll be out in a minute, he's just on the line to the HT at the moment."

Don held himself back from ripping open the door to the command truck and finding the sergeant as the minute stretched to five. Unconsciously he started pacing, six paces this way then spin and six paces back. Finally the door opened and an officer in plain clothes stepped down.

"Sergeant Markham?" Don stepped forward before both of the officer's feet were on the asphalt. "Don Eppes."

"Tony." The officer extended his hand and introductions all round quickly followed.

"Do you have any more information?" Don asked impatiently.

"We have a list of possible hostages, including your brother. We're working to try to narrow that down. Have you tried to reach him?"

"I just get his voicemail." Don said, fighting to keep a professional detachment, to keep the growing worry from his voice. "Who else is in there?"

"We have eight other names, all people known to have been in the offices that we can't currently locate." He handed over a list.

Don hurriedly perused the names but didn't recognise any, other than Charlie. He passed the list over to Megan. "The officer said you were just talking to the offender. Any new demands?"

"No. I've told him you're here. He just insisted on speaking to you."

Don stepped forward. "Let's do it."

Markham held out a restraining hand. "It's not that simple. That's why it took so long. He wants to speak to you in person. He point blank refuses to speak with you otherwise."

Don and his team exchanged glances.

"He wants you." Megan said. "This is personal, you could be the target."

"That's what we think as well." Markham agreed. He paused then continued, sounding reluctant. "He has offered us some hostages if you go up but has threatened to start killing them if you don't."

"Doesn't sound like I've got a choice." Don said after a few seconds thought. "He just wants to talk? No exchange?"

"He's just asked for face-to-face. No mention of exchange. You know the policy on that."

The agent nodded. The policy the LAPD officer was referring to was standard across the country, regardless of whether it was a small town Sheriff's Department or Federal Agency. No exchange of a LEO for hostages. It created too much of a problem for those trying to resolve the situation. It was next to impossible to be impartial when a fellow officer was the hostage.

Don knew that he wasn't being impartial himself at the moment. He had every intention of doing what the offender wanted, to go and negotiate in person. Charlie couldn't be reached and with an increasing sense of dread Don was sure that his brother was caught up in this. He had to be, with the one and only demand being that Don present himself to the offender it was no coincidence that Charlie couldn't be reached. By going up there he could eyeball the hostages, maybe even get some of them out. More importantly, he could confirm for himself if Charlie was one of them.

"Alright. Tell him I'm coming." Don announced his decision.

"Do you think that's wise?" Megan asked, following him to the back of his SUV as the LAPD officer went back into the command truck.

"You heard Markham." Don stated as he pulled out a Kevlar vest and with Megan's help strapped it on. "The offender's going to let some of them go if I do this. Or shoot them if I don't."

"I don't like it."

"Make that 'we' don't like it." David butted in. Colby nodded.

"This is the quickest way to find out if Charlie is up there."

"All the more reason not to do this." Megan insisted. "If he is in there then you'll loose your objectivity." _If you haven't lost it already_, was the unspoken rider.

The door to the command truck opened and Markham leaned out. "Agent Eppes? He's waiting for you."

"Which office?"

"See the SWAT Commander at the building. He'll escort you in." Markham pointed at the entrance to the math wing.

Don tugged at the vest, settling it in place. He was wearing the lightweight black vest, he figured it was less threatening than the full tactical vest he normally wore festooned with guns. At the thought he touched the holster at his hip ensuring the weapon was snugly in place. There was no demand that he go up unarmed. He looked at Megan. "You're in charge. Start poking around, see what you can dig up. Help Markham's boys."

Megan looked like she still wanted to argue so Colby chimed in, "Sure thing, Don."

Don was already walking away.

The SWAT Commander met him at the main doors. The officer had a small microphone in his hand that he clipped to back of Don's vest, out of casual sight. It would allow them to listen in. A minute or two later they were standing at the fire exit on the second floor. The SWAT team were holding at that position, hidden from the hall by the door.

"Where is the closest team?" Don asked after the SWAT Commander finished briefing him on the layout beyond the door.

"Right here. There's no other cover." He tapped his earpiece. "We'll be listening and will come in hot if you call."

"Okay. Thanks." Don took a deep breath and stepped cautiously out into the deserted hallway.

Third room along, the Commander had said. It was the only room with a closed door, all the others were open. There were some papers strewn on the floor along with some bags that looked like they'd been tossed aside. All signs of a hasty evacuation. Don stopped a few feet shy of the door. He could see shadows but nothing more through the frosted glass. The name printed on the glass matched one of the names on the list Markham had shown him.

"This is Special Agent Eppes of the FBI." He finally called out raising his hands to shoulder height so he would not appear threatening.

There were sounds of movement then the door opened a crack. A frightened eye peered out. Don smiled in reassurance as the girl stared at him. She looked young, most probably a student. The door closed again for a minute. There were more sounds of movement before it opened again. This time it was swung wide by the same girl.

"He w-wants to see you." She said, voice quavering.

"What's your name?" Don asked gently as he moved carefully closer.

"T-tracey."

Another name from the list. "It's going to be okay, Tracey."

She chewed at her lower lip, glancing nervously back into the room. It didn't seem as though she believed him, but Don could understand that. As he stepped closer she retreated until she joined a small group standing in the middle of the room. Don stopped in the middle of the hall, in clear view of the room.

It was a moment before Don could see the offender, hidden as he was behind the group of hostages. He was of slight to medium build, dressed in clothing that wouldn't stand out on campus. He was Caucasian but that was about as far as Don could go, the man's face was obscured by a balaclava and the upper half of his body by his jacket. The rest of the offender was hidden.

The gun he was holding was as plain as day, however. But it was a little odd. Unlike most HTs that Don had dealt with this one did not have the silver semi-automatic pistol pressed firmly against the side of a hostage's head. The weapon was being held up and not pointed at anyone in particular, not even him. HT's seemed to fall into two categories, those that were afraid and those that were on a power trip. Both as a result aimed their weapons at the hostages, or at a police officer confronting them, never at the ceiling. The weapon was still a threat however and the HT had to be treated accordingly.

Frowning slightly Don searched the faces identifying Tracey, two other females and two males. Neither male was Charlie. Don felt his hopes soar, Charlie just had his phone turned off, or he'd forgotten to charge it again. His professional detachment returned. Seven pairs of eyes continued to stare at each other until finally Don decided it was up to him to break the silence. "You wanted to speak to me?"

"You came."

The voice was hoarse but understandable, sounding disappointed. Or was that hopeful? _Surely it couldn't be both_. Don concentrated on what he was here to do. "You promised to release some hostages."

"Yes." The offender agreed. "You are alone?"

That was not a question that any cop wanted to answer, particularly if it was effectively true. Don suddenly had a bad feeling about the situation but was determined to play it out. If hostages were likely to be released then he would take the risk. "Yes."

There was a long moment of silence until the offender ordered: "Go."

The hostages made a concerted rush for the door, forcing Don to step further back out of the way as they exited the room. Don pointed to the fire exit and watched as they were greeted by the SWAT team. He counted then suddenly realised that all five hostages were out.

He turned back quickly and saw just the offender, alone in the room. It would be a few moments before the SWAT team were free of the hostages, two of whom were hysterical and were crowding the fire exit doorway. The offender no longer had any protection or leverage. Don drew his weapon and stepped forward into the room, following as the offender retreated. As he cleared the doorway the offender stopped, his gun held at his side. They were separated by only a couple of yards and a desk.

"Drop your weapon." Don ordered. His own weapon was raised and aimed steadily, centre mass, at the offender. He had the advantage, he was ready to fire but the offender wasn't.

A moment later the advantage was gone.

The offender slowly raised his spare hand and tugged at the balaclava, pulling it from his head. His face was still obscured for a moment until he shook the curls free. Dark brown curls. The face lifted and the offender looked at him with familiar puppy-dog eyes.

-


	2. Chapter 2

**Numb3rs – Disarmed**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.

_CHAPTER TWO_

-100-1111-1110-

Don's jaw dropped open just as his gun hand dropped to his side. There was no way he could hold a gun on the man, _on this man_. He would sooner point it at his own head. But although he had a shrink, he was hardly suicidal. His thoughts were in a whirl, his younger brother, Charlie the math genius was the HT. An armed offender. It just refused to compute, the disbelief was total, the shock almost overwhelming.

For the briefest moment he wondered just where a math professor would obtain a handgun. But as an FBI agent he knew only too well how easily a weapon could be obtained if one was sufficiently motivated. The 'how' paled into insignificance against the 'why'. _What could Charlie's motivation possibly be?_

"Sorry, Don." The math professor said after clearing his throat. Gone was the hoarse voice, obviously used to conceal his identity until now. He was speaking in a painfully normal manner which Don found incongruous to the situation.

Don finally found his own voice, sounding thin and small instead of authoritative. "W-what's going on, buddy?"

Charlie shook his head sadly. "You have to drop that, Don."

Don thought he couldn't be more shocked but he was wrong. Charlie raised his right arm and pointed the gun he held at his older brother. His grip was white knuckled but the aim was solid. His left hand was also raised, palm upwards. It was clear what he wanted, Don's weapon. Don's right arm twitched, shoulder jerking slightly. Muscle memory. His arm wanted to react to the threat, to raise the weapon that he still held but Don just couldn't do it. Overriding his body's automatic response his hand remained hanging useless at his side, barely able to keep a grip on the Glock. "Charlie, speak to me. What is going on here?"

"You know I can shoot. You have to give up the gun." Charlie insisted.

Shooting a rifle at a paper target was not the same as threatening a living person, kin no less, with a handgun. But it was hardly the point as guns were pretty much a plug-and-play item, or rather point-and-shoot, so a lack of training made a gun more dangerous, not less. Charlie looked determined, saddened, upset and desperate at the same time. It made no sense. The gun shook once, as a tremor passed over the professor's body but the aim soon firmed.

_This was all wrong_. Don made his decision, the other option he couldn't bear to think about, to shoot his own brother. Or let a SWAT officer do it. "Fine. You want me as a hostage then you got it." His words came out harsh, his roiling emotions leaning towards anger. "But that is how it will be. You're the HT and I'm the hostage. You've been around the FBI enough to know what that means."

He lifted his weapon slightly, muzzle carefully aimed away at a wall. Eyes fixed on Charlie waiting for a reaction that didn't come, Don's thumb pressed the magazine release. The magazine dropped to the floor with a thud. He roughly jerked the slide back and heard the ejected round from the chamber bounce off the edge of a bookcase before landing on the carpet. He tossed the unloaded weapon onto the desk where it landed with a loud clatter in front of Charlie.

Charlie hesitated but reached out and picked up the Glock, sliding it into a pocket on his jacket. "Lock the door."

Don's head and shoulders slumped. _Charlie had carried through_. He had no reason to doubt that he would though, everything up to now indicated that Charlie was nothing if not serious. "So that's how it's going to be then, buddy?" It wasn't really a question, the disappointment was palpable. He looked back up only to see Charlie's gun jerk sharply at the door, the command repeated.

Don turned and gripped the edge of the door ready to close it, acutely aware of the weapon pointed at his back. It was then that he saw the all but forgotten SWAT team, poised just out of sight in the hallway having moved up now that the hostages were free. The commander's eyes stared at his from the protective goggles. The man raised his tear gas gun suggestively. They were ready to act, on Don's signal. Don now hesitated but not out of fear for himself. He just couldn't give them the go, it would be a virtual death sentence for his brother. There was also the need to find out what had made Charlie do this. He shook his head slightly and closed the door. Another moment then he turned the latch, locking himself in and the SWAT team out. He turned back to Charlie and the gun.

"Take the vest off."

"I don't think so." Don attempted to recover some of the tattered remains of his FBI persona. The agent glared defiantly at the gunman. _He had to think of Charlie as the gunman_.

The gunman's aim was initially at the agent's protected chest but the weapon now tracked upwards to stop pointed at his head. The vest was useless against such a trajectory. Don tried, he really tried but he just couldn't hold his ground. He knew that if it had been any other punk offender he would have had some snappy comeback, some way of distracting the gunman from his goal. But his mind had stopped working properly, he just couldn't think clearly.

This wasn't just some gunman, it was Charlie. Little Charlie, the one he'd teased or ignored as a child. The one he'd defended against bullies when they were a little older. The one he'd felt jealous of when he took their mother off to college with him. The one he'd been so angry with for not visiting the woman who'd sacrificed so much for him before she'd died of cancer. The one he'd come to rely on to help him save helpless victims and put offenders away. This was the same Charlie who now held him at gunpoint.

He'd put his younger brother under a lot of pressure lately. He'd interrupted his classes and demanded his help to solve his cases. Tempers had flared more than once as stress was put on their relationship. Perhaps he'd pushed him too far. Don couldn't shoot Charlie but he was just starting to wonder if maybe, just maybe, Charlie could shoot him.

Slowly and with obvious reluctance Don pulled at the Velcro tabs and after a few long seconds dropped the vest to the floor. The gun dropped slightly, at least he didn't have to stare into the yawning chasm of the muzzle any more. He was more than well aware that the weapon was no less lethal for the change in angle.

Abruptly Don just couldn't submissively take whatever the younger man was going to hand out. Anger resurfaced. "What are you doing, Charlie? Just what the hell are you trying to achieve?"

Again Charlie shook his head. "You don't want to make me angry. I have a gun pointed at you."

That elicited a short, humourless bark of laughter. Don could see the words waiting to be uttered next. "Or what? You'll do something you'll regret? You don't regret this already?"

Charlie appeared uncomfortable. "I already said I was sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Charlie. I warned you that this was how it was going to be. I have no idea what has gone wrong with you but for now you are holding a Federal Agent hostage. This is what it is. You are now the target." Don waved his hand behind him at the door, at the SWAT officers holding out in the hall. His brother would know they were nearby. "You have to give it up."

"No. They won't shoot me."

"Just because I can't shoot you, not even to save my own life, doesn't mean that they can't. The SWAT snipers don't know you and don't care about you. They. Will. Shoot. You."

Charlie's jaw clenched as he seemed to listen to Don's words. His gaze flickered towards the frosted glass as if he could see through it. As if he could see the guns ready to be aimed at him. His eyes seemed to take on a pleading quality. His mouth opened but shut again before whatever he was going to say made it out.

Don was even more confused, he was disarmed in more than just the standard usage of the word. He was lost and had no idea what was happening. He felt as if he'd fallen off the planet and was now in some strange alternate universe. None of this could possibly be happening.

Charlie's head cocked to one side slightly and his eyes squeezed tightly shut for a second. He opened his mouth and issued a new command. "Handcuffs."

For a moment, just a moment, Don thought that some of what he'd said had maybe made a difference but it was gone now. Obeying the command he pulled the pouch off the back of his belt, hefting the weight in his hand. He may not be able to shoot Charlie, but his aim, thanks to recent practice with the new FBI baseball team, was still good. Charlie saw the calculating glance and the gun lifted as he turned to one side reducing the surface area he presented as a target.

"I want you to put them on."

Don flung the pouch onto the floor at his brother's feet in disgust. "No. Do it yourself." He held his hands out, wrists spaced slightly apart, thumbs up.

"Please, Don. I don't want to have to shoot you." Charlie kicked the handcuff pouch back towards him.

"It doesn't look like it from here." Don dropped his hands, ignoring the pouch at his feet. "I've given up my gun and I've taken off the vest. I'm not doing anything else until you tell me why."

"I can't. Not yet." Charlie said, sounding anguished. "Please, Don."

"What are you going to do, shoot me? Over this?" He was incredulous and angry. He just couldn't understand it. He was the brother in therapy, if anyone was ever going to go postal it would have been him. He'd had enough reason at times. It was not unheard of in law enforcement, or postal services for that matter where the term had originated. But a Professor? _Of math?_ "How are you going to explain that to Dad?"

"Dad." Charlie parroted the word sounding numb.

"Yeah, Chuck. _Dad_." Don pressed. "If you can do this, if you can pull that trigger, you're going to have to explain all this to him."

"Dad is why I'm doing this." Charlie finally said. "That's why you have to do this."

Don felt his blood run cold. He had earlier tried to ring the house but the phone had rung out. Their father should have been home at this hour. He stepped up to his brother, ignoring the gun that pressed into his unprotected chest as he moved right into Charlie's face. He was in the perfect position to take the gun away from the younger man, had trained until the movement was instinctive. But there were more urgent matters.

"What do you mean?" He demanded harshly, his eyes cold and hard boring into Charlie's. _Had his brother totally flipped? Had he hurt their father?_ Don suddenly realised that whilst he may not be able to harm his brother to protect himself he would be able to do so to protect their father, or avenge him. He couldn't believe he was in this position or having these thoughts. He'd once admitted to Charlie that he got scared all the time, at the moment though, he was terrified. Terrified of what Charlie might have done and at what he himself might do in response.

"I-." Charlie started then stopped. His mouth opened again, but this time nothing came out.

Charlie suddenly winced and tipped his head to the side, shaking it slightly. Due to his proximity even Don heard it, a loud buzzing noise. It came from Charlie's ear. Don's eyes narrowed, he peered at Charlie's left ear, the ear that was still pointed slightly downwards. His eyes widened and he backed off half a pace and stared at his brother's face. Eyes could say so much, particularly amongst family. Charlie was projecting relief so strongly it was almost a physical sensation.

"Put the handcuffs on." Charlie's repeated command was counter to the expression now on his face.

Don reached up slowly and grasped the sides of Charlie's head, turning it so that he could see better. Charlie didn't resist. Don looked closely at the hearing aid-like device planted firmly in his brother's left ear canal. The tiny aerial that projected a centimetre confirmed his suspicion. An earwig, there would be an accompanying unit the size of a cell phone somewhere on Charlie's person. It was device used by law enforcement to communicate covertly with an agent in the field. Don and his team had used them from time to time. Someone was now using one to control Charlie. Don understood why Charlie had repeated his demand, he was hiding the fact that Don now knew some of what was happening. If there was an earwig, then there had to be a microphone, probably very much like the one still clipped to the back of Don's discarded vest.

"I already told you, I'm not doing anything else until you tell me what has happened to Dad." Don fired back, keeping up appearances.

He released his grip on the sides of Charlie's head. His right hand tracked downwards slowly until it touched the slide on the semi-automatic pistol that was still pointed alarmingly at his chest. He tugged gently expecting compliance and saw the panic flare in Charlie's eyes. The gun was pulled away, out of Don's light grip. Surprised at the resistance the agent cautiously tried for the weapon again but a hand on his chest pushed him back a step.

Don shook his head in dismay. '_Charlie!' _He mouthed silently, imploring his brother to cooperate with him and give him the weapon to inspect. He'd also seen the angry red marks circling his brother's wrists. It looked like he'd been bound but there was no time to pursue that now.

"Don't fight me on this, please Don." Charlie said warningly. The phrase was for the unseen controller as well as for his brother.

There had to be a way to communicate. Don suddenly looked to the desk, an idea forming. Keeping his movements slow and non-threatening he stepped sideways and reached for an object on the desktop. Charlie stood passively, watching carefully.

A moment passed as Don scribbled furiously on the scratch pad with a pen snatched from a pen holder. He held up the note. -_Someone has Dad?-_ His younger brother nodded vigorously, his eyes suddenly brimming. Don's knees trembled at the sudden relief he felt, forcing him to brace a hand on the desk to steady himself. Charlie had not hurt their father. Don couldn't believe that he had even thought it had been possible.

Another note, requesting confirmation. -_He can hear us?_-

Another vigorous nod as Charlie wiped at his eyes with the back of the hand holding the gun. Charlie suddenly stared at the weapon with loathing. He looked as if he desperately wanted to put it down but another angry buzz in his ear stopped him. He pulled back the hammer instead. The loud clicking noise was distinctive even if the weapon was now pointed harmlessly downwards at the floor. His expression was pleading with Don to do something.

"Alright." Don said. He allowed his voice to take on the tone of surrender. "Alright Charlie, I'll put them on." Don picked up the discarded pouch and pulled out the cuffs. With their father the real hostage they both had no choice but to play it out.

"Give me your car keys and the handcuff key first."

Another second of scribbling. -_We are going somewhere?-_ With the demand for his car keys that seemed the most logical conclusion. It also started to make sense for someone to have used Charlie this way. Confronted with his brother as the offender Don was guaranteed to be put well off his game and rendered helpless.

Charlie nodded once again in response to the note. Don dug into his pocket and pulled out the keys to his SUV, the ring also held one of his handcuff keys. After handing the set over he looped the metal bands of the cuffs around his wrists. The ratcheting sound as the notches on the swing arms slid over the locking teeth was loud in the quiet office, another distinctive sound to be picked up by the offender's microphone. Don twisted the locks after he finished adjusting each loop. He left them a little loose but they still imprisoned his hands for real. He had no doubt that if they got to wherever Charlie was to take him the offender would be checking them. The second handcuff key in his pocket didn't have much of a profile, it would be easily missed if he were patted down.

"You happy now?" Don said putting anger into his tone. He was back at the desk awkwardly scribbling another note. He didn't know what might happen to their father if the offender realised that Don knew the game. The offender had gone to some trouble to set this up, to make Don think the worst.

Charlie released the hammer on the gun. He cocked his head as he listened to more instructions. He then read the new note Don shoved at him. -_Do you know who it is?-_

_-_

_**A/N:** To avoid any confusion I have used the following conventions:_

written communication is shown as:_ - italics inside dashes -_

mouthed words (ie silently spoken) are shown as:_ 'italics inside single quotation marks'_

unspoken thoughts are _plain italics_

radio/telephone communication is shown as:_ "italics inside normal quotation marks"._

_-_


	3. Chapter 3

**Numb3rs – Disarmed**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.

_CHAPTER THREE_

-11-1000-1-10010-1100-1001-101-

"I'll be alright, Dad." Charlie had said with a touch of exasperation as he finished off the slice of toast his father handed him. He glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. 8:00am. It was time to be headed off to campus. He pushed on the swinging door and left the kitchen, directing his words behind him. "You go out with Millie, and I'll get my own dinner."

"Mmph!" Alan clearly had thoughts on what Charlie would get for dinner.

"I can cook!" Charlie protested at the tone. He knew his father was thinking about the recent explosion of takeout wrappers in the bin which corresponded proportionately with the number of meals he had been having with Millie lately.

"Just don't burn my house down." Alan's voice floated out of the kitchen.

"_My_ house." Charlie corrected under his breath as he went to the table and picked up his bag. He was going to be late if he didn't get a move on.

He was definitely running late. As he left the house it had been by only thirty-seven seconds but it was enough that with missing the critical window of the traffic lights closest to home the snowball effect led him to arrive at his office a total of twenty-one minutes later that he should have. He'd worked the cycle out some time ago on a project for the city planning office and had tried to use it to his advantage since. He knew which light to hit at the right time to make the most efficient trip to various destinations around LA. The only problem was that other drivers didn't know the cycle and unknowingly conspired to make it a rare day indeed that he managed a whole trip as planned.

Finally arriving in his office he found that he would have to leave his perusal of the latest periodical waiting on his desk until at least his midmorning break. Preparation came first. Plugging his laptop into the printer he produced the day's pop quiz. His class had been getting a bit complacent. The work he'd just completed for the FBI had taken most of his attention for the past week and he'd noted yesterday that the class was feeling a little cocky as he'd not pushed them too hard. _Well this should sort a few of them out_, he decided with a slight smile as he scanned over the printed pages checking one last time for errors. He took the sheets down the hall and asked the assistant to copy sufficient for the class.

The first half of the class covered he prepared his material for the second half. A variation on the dynamic multi-perspective pattern analysis he'd used to help solve the carjacking ring would keep his student's preoccupied. As would the related problem he was going to set them to be completed by the next class in a couple of days. That was one of the best things about his work for the FBI, it always lead to interesting applications of math which helped to encourage and fascinate his students.

It all went smoothly, the moans and groans as the class filed in to be met by his smiling face holding up the pop quiz sheets was worth the hour or so it had taken to write last night. When he called 'time' they were a little shell-shocked but they were now switched on and were prepared to fully participate in the second half of the class, eager to absorb the new material. It was going to take a while to mark the quizes but after scanning over a couple of them Charlie felt that all-in-all they didn't do too badly.

That helped to make him feel a little less guilty. Whilst he was deep in a case for the FBI he often worried that his students suffered for his less than total concentration on the class work. The pop quizzes he was setting more and more frequently lately helped ensure that he kept on top of his students' weaknesses and was able to address them before they were lost under new work.

"How'd they do?" A soft voice inquired.

The class had finished and he was headed back down the corridor to his office. The pop quizzes were on the top of the pile of books he was carrying and he couldn't help but start reading the topmost one as he walked. "Oh, hey Amita."

"Hey, yourself." She matched his pace, walking along beside him. She glanced significantly at the papers he'd been reading, "Well?"

"I think they did alright." Charlie replied. "So, lunch today?" They'd stopped at a junction, Amita's class was located along the adjoining corridor. Somehow they always seemed to miss their dinner engagements but lunches currently had a higher than sixty-five percent success rate.

"That would be nice." She said flashing him a brilliant smile.

Charlie watched for a moment as she turned and walked quickly off to get to her class. _Yes, lunch would be nice_.

The note on his desk advised of the last minute cancellation of his tutorial class so he spent the next hour or so marking the quizzes and was about a third of the way through. He'd been right, they had grasped most of the concepts he'd been teaching this last week. Most fell down on one particular question though and he made himself a note to explain that theorem again next lecture. His stomach was starting to grumble.

"Professor Eppes?"

Charlie looked up at the interruption. A man about Don's age was standing just inside his office door. A 'man in a suit' as Millie would call him, a fairly common sight these days. If it wasn't the FBI it was the NSA, you needed the ID cards to tell them apart as the dress code was the same. Charlie didn't recognise this 'suit'.

"Yes?" He answered a little cautiously.

"You need to come with me."

Charlie stood up. The man sounded like NSA, all cloak and dagger. But he had learnt a few things by association, both with the NSA and the FBI. "You need to show me some ID."

The man reached into an inner jacket pocket causing the math professor a moment of alarm until the hand reappeared holding a large white rectangle. Not the standard leather ID wallet and to his relief, not the gun that had flashed through his mind a moment before. He chided himself, he was starting to get paranoid. The white rectangle landed on his desk.

"I think that will do." The man stated coldly.

Something was undeniably off but he reached out and picked up the rectangle, flipping it over as he did so. He nearly dropped it in shock. His hands shook as his grip on the photograph tightened, crinkling it slightly.

It was his father, bound, gagged and tied to a chair in what looked like an unfurnished office. He was clearly unconscious and there was a dark blotch on his forehead.

"W-where is he?" It came out as a choked whisper. Charlie cleared his throat, his next demand much stronger: "What have you done to him?"

"Easy Professor." The man soothed, but kept a wary eye on him for all that. "Keep your voice down."

"What do you want?" The man was not NSA or FBI, or any of the other alphabet agencies, of that Charlie was now sure. That just left a whole raft of unpleasant alternatives.

"Let's go."

Charlie hung back. He knew that the odds for survival were better for him if he didn't go with the man who obviously wanted to kidnap him. He shoved the thought away. The man had already taken his father and the older man's odds for survival increased if Charlie cooperated. Alan was unlikely to be the target, who wanted to harm an ex-public official? With their father a hostage it meant either Don or himself was the real target. The fact that the man was here suggested that the professor, not the agent, was the one he wanted. If Charlie acquiesced then the man would no longer have any need to hold his father.

"Let him go and I'll do whatever you want."

"Now is not the time for negotiation, Professor. That is yet to come." The man was starting to sound impatient. He unbuttoned his jacket before pulling it back to reveal the gun hanging from a shoulder holster.

The message was clear, the man was prepared to do whatever it took to achieve his goal. Charlie would be going with him one way or the other, he lifted his hands briefly. The odds of innocents being hurt if the gun came out of the holster were too high. "I get the picture. You don't need the gun, I'll go with you."

The man allowed his jacket to drop back into place but didn't button it back up. "Good."

Charlie stepped around his desk, casually sliding the photograph under some of the quizzes. When he went missing Don was sure to turn the office upside down looking for clues. The photo would be a nice big clue.

"Now, now, Professor. I thought you valued your father's life more than that." The man held out his left hand.

_Damn._ The photograph was retrieved and handed over. "Where are we going?"

"Out the front to the parking lot. Nice and easy, just you and a government agent. Everyone should be used to that around here."

That explained why he was dressed in NSA/FBI dress code standard attire. He also looked and sounded the part. It was the perfect disguise on this campus, in these halls, to take Charlie away without arousing suspicion. Charlie led the way, the man keeping pace a half step behind and to one side. A few curious glances were all the reaction their passage achieved. Finally they reached the parking lot and the man used a remote to unlock a regulation standard dark SUV. The tags were private, not government, but few would be likely to notice the difference.

The professor was waved into the front passenger seat. He initially baulked but complied almost instantly, the image of his unconscious father tied to a chair propelling him into the vehicle. The man closed the door and unhurriedly walked around the front to get into the driver's side.

"I'll take your cell phone now."

Charlie reluctantly reached into a pocket and pulled the phone out. He handed it over and watched as the man put it into his door pocket, well out of Charlie's reach. The man then dug into the spacious centre console coming up with a couple of loops of plastic.

"Hands."

He twisted and raised his hands allowing the man to flex-cuff his wrists together. Satisfied, the man started the SUV and drove calmly out into the traffic, heading down town.

"What do you want?" Charlie demanded again, expecting an answer this time.

"You are going to do something for me, Professor."

"What is that?" His compliance was practically guaranteed, this man had his father.

"You're not ready yet." The man said cryptically.

"What do you mean?"

The man looked sideways at him briefly before returning his attention out the windshield. "If I asked you to point a gun at your brother would you do it?"

"No!"

A smug grin. "That's what I meant, you're not ready yet."

Charlie's heart beat frantically in his chest. _He wasn't the target after all, Don was_. This man wanted him to point a gun at Don for him and sounded confident that he would convince him to do it. Even scarier, Charlie believed that the man might be right as the image of his father from the photograph swam in front of his mind's eye.

-


	4. Chapter 4

**Numb3rs – Disarmed**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.

_A/N: Although we have seen worse done to the two brothers, I am about to whump Alan. Nothing graphic I assure you, but I just wanted to give fair warning in case it may upset some people._

_CHAPTER FOUR_

-11-1000-1-10010-1100-1001-101-

Only a few more miles and they pulled into a basement garage of a new office building. There were just a few cars scattered about the spaces. The man helped Charlie from the vehicle and over towards the lifts. Charlie held his wrists up briefly, hoping to be freed but the man ignored him, pressing the lift button. He objected to being hauled around like a child but bit his tongue, he was still bound, the man was still armed and worst of all his father was still being held hostage. He crossed his fingers, perhaps he was being taken to him now.

The lift doors slid open and Charlie was pushed inside. A button with a sticker beside it saying 'for lease' was pressed and the doors closed. He saw that only two floors appeared to be occupied, the tenth and twelfth. The ride up to the fourth floor passed in silence. When the doors opened at their destination the man grabbed him roughly by the shoulder and pushed him out. The sudden movement caused the sharp edges of the flex-cuffs to bite into his wrists but he kept silent. Charlie looked around him and saw that they were in a hallway with plain frosted glass walls and a couple of closed doors.

He was given a push to the left and he meekly walked towards the closed door at that end of the hall. He stopped and waited as the man pulled out a key and unlocked the door, pushing it open. The door was relocked behind them and they walked a short distance into the room before Charlie was given a sudden shove forwards. He was getting heartily sick of the manhandling. He then caught a glimpse of where he was headed and just had time to bring up his bound hands to protect his face as he bounced off the glass window much to the amusement of the man. Charlie knew he was in no danger of falling through, assuming that the building was up to code that was. Four floors may not seem so high but the view from close against the window in the empty office was dizzying.

The man then opened a door to an inner office and Charlie didn't need any encouragement to enter. He immediately rushed over to the bound figure strapped to a chair. The man was wearing a hood but it was his father. Charlie pulled the hood from the older man's head and gently lowered the gag finding that his father was conscious.

Alan blinked his eyes at the sudden glare of light and licked his dry lips. "Charlie?" He managed, still squinting.

"Dad!" Charlie patted anxiously at his father's body with his hands looking for any injuries. The bruise on his forehead was darker than it had been in the photograph but didn't appear too serious.

"Oh, my boy. Why are you here?"

"Has he hurt you? Are you alright?"

"I'm alright, son. Just a bump."

"What happened?"

Alan nodded at the man in the suit. "He did. He came to the house flashed a badge and said he was from Don's office. I went with him like a fool. It wasn't until we got here and there was no Don that I realised something was up. So then he pulls out a gun and hits me with it. Next thing I wake up to find a bag on my head and I seem to be all alone. Now I know why, he was getting you. Charlie, has he hurt you?"

"No, I'm fine." The mild mannered math professor turned on the still unnamed man, eyes flashing. "You didn't have to hit him."

"I'll be doing more than just hitting him if you don't do what I tell you."

"Charlie, don't you do anything." Alan ordered.

He was ignored. "Let him go. I'm here, you don't need him."

"He's going to be enjoying my company for some time yet, unlike you."

Charlie tried to disregard the chill that ran down his spine. "Who are you?"

"What do you want with my son?" Alan demanded at the same time.

"You can call me Luke." The man said, finally identifying himself. He turned his next comment to Alan. "And I don't want this son. I'm after your other one."

"Then be a man and go get him yourself."

Charlie looked at his father in shock before realising what he'd meant. It seemed that this Luke was working alone and felt he was no match for Don in a fair fight. That's why he was taking hostages, one at a time. He needed leverage. If he'd gone after the FBI agent directly Don would have had a good chance of taking him out.

Luke smiled tightly. "I see the Eppes spirit runs through the whole family. You ex-FBI?"

"Ex-town planner, if you must know." Alan retorted defiantly. He lifted his chin. "If you're after Don then you don't need Charlie, you have me. Let him go."

"Oh, I'll be letting this son go soon enough." Luke stepped over and replaced the gag and then the hood over Alan's head despite the older man's struggles. "But now it is time for he and I to have a little chat."

Charlie was pulled from the office and into the room next door. Another chair awaited and he was not surprised to be pushed down into it. A couple of zip ties were produced and he soon found his wrists bound to one armrest. His ankles were then secured together and attached to a chair leg.

"Why do you want my brother?"

"I'd rather discuss that with him."

"Then why are we here? Why have you hurt our father?"

"I haven't begun to hurt him yet." Luke threatened. "How much I do hurt him is up to you."

"Don't hurt him." Charlie tried again: "I'll do what you want."

"I'd like to believe that but unfortunately for your father's sake, I don't." Luke stepped away and went for the door.

"Where are you going? Come back!" Charlie yelled at Luke's retreating back. He had a very bad feeling about what was going to happen next.

Only a few seconds passed before his worst fears were realised. Muffled screams came from the next room, from his father.

"Stop it!"

The screams stopped abruptly and Charlie breathed again. He waited for the sounds of Luke's return and prepared to listen to the man's demands but instead the screams started again.

"Stop it!" He yelled again. "Stop it, you'll kill him!"

The screams continued unabated, varying in intensity but were without let up.

"I'll do it! I'll do whatever you want!" The muffled sounds continued and he was helpless. He tugged at his bonds, succeeding in only causing his wrists to bleed. He pulled violently at the armrest but it stayed firmly attached to the chair. Throwing himself to one side he knocked the chair over only to discover that it was made of sterner stuff than he, staying in one piece as he was falling apart.

He lay panting on the floor, eyes squeezed tightly shut with tears running down his cheeks. He wanted Luke to stop. He wanted to block his ears to shut out the screams that had turned into groans. There was another noise, a painful keening that he suddenly realised was coming from him. He bit his lip to silence himself.

Finally all he could do was beg, his pleas falling apparently unheard to the soft carpeting. "Please…"

"Please what?"

Charlie's eyes flew open to see Luke's shoes inside the doorway. His gaze tracked upwards, over the hands that had caused his father pain. He was surprised to see that they were unbloodied. _From the sounds his father had made he'd thought_… He shut that line of though down ruthlessly. He stared upwards into the torturer's face.

"T-tell me what you want."

Luke calmly explained what he wanted the math professor to do.

"No!" The objection was automatic. "I can't!"

Luke simply walked away. His absence filled a few moments later by another agonised groan from the other room.

"Alright! Alright!" Charlie cried. He needed Don, needed his brother to save them. If this was the only way to get Don to help then he would have to do it. He knew his father wouldn't be able to withstand any more punishment. Charlie couldn't stand it. He was back to begging. "Please…"

Luke returned, this time looking pleased. He knew he had won, that the professor would play along with the drama he had planned for the FBI agent. If all went well then Charlie was going to be more than just a messenger, an enabler. No, Charlie had a major role, if everyone played by the rules.

Half an hour later Charlie found himself climbing out of Luke's SUV after it pulled to a stop. They were back at the entrance to the math building at CalSci. He had been given a different jacket to wear, one in a style commonly favoured by students with large pockets. He'd also been given a balaclava that sat in one pocket, a micro earpiece embedded in his left ear canal and a microphone pinned under his collar. The transmitter/receiver was clipped to the back of his belt. Most distressingly there was a gun in his right pocket, the weight heavier on his soul than on the fabric of the jacket.

He headed directly inside as he'd been instructed, turning into the men's room and locking himself into a cubicle. He waited, nervously twisting and pulling at the balaclava in his hands. He thought of his father as he'd last seen him just before leaving the office, the hood pushed back, face ashen grey and sweaty as he slumped barely conscious in the chair. There were no visible injuries but he was clearly in pain. For a moment he'd roused, managing to raise his head briefly. The look in his eyes above the gag was clear to his youngest son. But Charlie had to disobey that silent order. He'd stood passively next to the wall and waited as the small explosive charge was set against his father's chest before the hood was once more pulled down.

He forced his hands to still on the balaclava, it would be shredded if he continued. _He couldn't do what Luke wanted, he just couldn't_. The plan was crazy and Charlie couldn't understand why Luke needed it to be done this way. A phone call was all it would take. A simple phone call and Don would come running, unarmed and alone. He'd tried to argue the point but Luke simply started to walk into the other office and Charlie had surrendered.

_He had no choice_. It was the only way to save their father. It meant putting Don in danger but he knew his elder brother would volunteer in a heartbeat if given the opportunity. The agent put his life on the line everyday for strangers, for family the son and brother wouldn't even think about it. Don would just do whatever it took. It was Charlie's only comfort and he clung to it. He was going to put his brother at a severe disadvantage but he knew in his heart that the anomaly that was Don Eppes would somehow find a way to save them all.

"_Now."_

Charlie started violently at the sudden command, the earpiece making it seem like the voice was in his head. It was followed by a weak and muffled cry of agony. Luke was back at the office, back with his father and causing him more pain.

"I'm moving." Charlie said aloud to forestall any more 'encouragement'. Luke had warned him what would happen if he was too slow or disobeyed any order.

Now it was an hour and half later and it was done, Don was his prisoner and at his mercy. Luke's voice was in his ear passing on more instructions. Don was also still holding his last note up in front of his eyes. _-Do you know who it is?-_

Charlie nodded and reached for the pad. He scribbled his answer and handed the pad back. He watched closely as his older brother read the name without recognition. Charlie wasn't sure what to make of that, his tormentor had to be someone Don knew.

-


	5. Chapter 5

**Numb3rs – Disarmed**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.

_A/N: I'm pleased no one was too upset at what happened to Alan, unfortunately it was the only way to get Charlie to toe the line._

_CHAPTER FIVE_

-100-1111-1000-

_-Luke.-_

Don read Charlies almost indecipherable scrawl. _Who the hell was Luke?_ None of his current or recent cases had anyone by the name of Luke, neither as suspects, complainants nor witnesses. He looked back at Charlie and shrugged.

"So what now, bro'?" Don asked, keeping the tone of anger steady in his voice. "You said you'd tell me why."

"Not yet."

"That's what you said before. I'm getting sick of this Chuck. Tell me what is going on here. Where is Dad?" He badgered at his brother to keep up appearances. _Although an answer to a question would be nice_.

"Kneel."

"What?" He hadn't expected that.

"I said, on your knees." Charlie elaborated. His spare hand rubbed at the skin just in front of his left ear as he winced again.

Don imagined that this Luke character must have been shouting at Charlie again to make him enforce his orders. He placatingly held up his shackled hands before he dropped to his knees. It was one of the scariest things he had ever done. It brought back unpleasant memories of the only times he'd been in this position. More than a year ago he'd been forced to his knees in a warehouse with a cocked gun at the back of his head. He had been just a heartbeat away from being executed before it had been called off. And then just a few months ago he'd been on his knees when the traitorous Deputy Assistant Director Ryder had been about to shoot him.

He bowed his head as he came to another decision. _If the price of their father's freedom was letting himself be shot then that was what he would do_. He just wished that Charlie hadn't been put in the position of having to pull the trigger.

Abruptly Don remembered the note he'd written a minute or two before and Charlie's agreement that they were going somewhere. That meant he was safe for the moment. He looked back up at his brother and saw that Charlie's hands were shaking badly having obviously seen the direction Don's thoughts had taken as he'd knelt. Charlie shook his head trying to reassure him. Don gave him a smile of acceptance in return. Charlie's expressive eyes widened as he understood Don's message before shaking his head more violently. The agent held up his hands, one palm downward making a calming motion.

The younger man finally calmed slightly. He took a few deep breaths of his own before responding to an instruction. He stepped forward, reached down and pulled Don's cell from its belt holder. Charlie tossed the device aside before stepping back. "Don't move or make a sound."

Don nodded.

Charlie went over to the phone and swapped the gun to his left hand before he picked up the handset with his right, placed it against his clear ear and waited. Standard procedure was that the phone used in the negotiation would be hardwired into the negotiators truck. The phone was now only a direct line between the office and the truck, all other outgoing and incoming calls would be blocked. All he had to do was pick it up and the call would be connected. He listened for a moment before speaking in the hoarse voice Don had heard when he first came to the room. "I want free passage out."

The agent could practically hear the response to that. The last thing the LAPD wanted was a mobile hostage situation. The rule book insisted that once contained a hostage taker was to remain contained. A mobile situation was impossible to control.

"I have the FBI agent. You will let me leave with him."

Don suddenly remembered the microphone clipped to his discarded vest. The negotiators would know who the HT was now. He didn't want them to react with that knowledge, Charlie was obviously under instructions to continue to disguise who he was to the outside world. As he began to move Charlie started, unsure of what he was doing. Don again held up his hands to try to pass on the message _'its okay'_ before scooting over to his vest. He pulled the microphone off the vest, holding it up to show his younger brother what he had. His other hand made a _'keep going'_ gesture.

"Send someone up to get his keys. We're taking the agent's SUV." Charlie continued into the phone as he watched Don intently.

Speaking softly but clearly Don addressed himself to the microphone that he held close to his lips. He kept his voice low so as to be undetectable by the microphone Charlie had to be wearing. "This is Agent Eppes. Under no circumstances let on that you know who the HT is. There is more going on than you know. We have to be allowed to leave, another life depends on it." He had no way of receiving confirmation that the message had been heard by the SWAT Commander. He repeated himself just in case before putting the microphone down on top of the vest.

Don then pointed at the notepad and pen sitting on the edge of the desk, indicating that he wanted them. Charlie nodded, stepping back to allow Don to retrieve the items. He didn't exactly have a hand free at the moment to hand them over. Don sat on the floor and started writing as Charlie continued hoarsely on the phone.

"I don't want to hear alternatives. I have the agent and I'm taking him out of here with me. If you don't let us leave I will shoot him. If you let us go you might get him back." He listened to the response to that before suddenly holding out the phone. "Here, they want to speak to you. Tell them I'm serious."

The older man took the phone handset. "Eppes."

"_Agent, this is Tony."_

"Sergeant, the gunman is serious. He has kept his word so far and I think he will continue to do so." Don said.

"_Agent, we have heard everything that has gone on in there." _Markham said with slight emphasis on the word 'everything'. He'd got Don's message. _"But you are under duress, do you understand?"_

"Sergeant, you have to listen to him. I want you to pull your men back and let us leave." He was well aware of what the negotiator had meant but Don didn't know what more he could say with Luke listening in.

He had a sudden thought, _Luke knew that he knew Charlie was the HT. Would he expect Don to tell the negotiator?_ _Would Luke know that Don knew the real game if he didn't?_ Don got a grip on himself, the whole I-know-that-you-know-that-I-know-that-you-know thing got confusing very quickly. He wasn't helping anything by trying to double guess the mysterious Luke. Charlie was playing it as if his identity had to be concealed from those outside. He would go along with that.

There was a click then a new voice, Megan. _"Don, are you sure?"_

"Sergeant, he means it." Don answered. _Please, Megan!_

A brief pause while she thought that over, both his words and the fact that he'd not acknowledged the change in negotiator. _"I hope you know what you're doing, Don." _

Another click then Markham's voice. _"Put him back on."_

Don held the handset up to Charlie.

"Good. Have your man come up unarmed. He'll take the keys and move the agent's SUV to the front steps. The keys are to be left in the ignition, the engine running. Then everyone back off. At the first sign of trouble I'll shoot the agent. Understood?"

Don was perversely proud of his little brother. Charlie was projecting a confident air, the message clear that he was in control, not letting on that he was merely a pawn in Luke's game. He hadn't thought his brother capable of such deception. He was an experienced agent and yet he himself had been totally deceived when Charlie had first revealed himself.

"Good." Charlie hung up the phone before coughing and clearing his throat. It had to hurt talking like that.

"I hope you don't really think they will let us go?" Don forced himself to say, keeping the pressure on as he would have done if he hadn't discovered the earwig. He held up the new note he'd scribbled as he spoke. _-Tell me to shut up-_. He didn't want to keep adding to Charlie's stress.

"Shut up." Charlie ordered obligingly.

"Fine, whatever you want." Don said sullenly, staying in character and getting the last word in.

He concentrated on finishing his other note. He folded the paper and addressed it _-Agent Reeves-_. A hand appeared in his field of vision, reaching out for the paper. Don hesitated but allowed his brother to take it. He waited as Charlie read the note which briefly explained the true story as best Don understood it. Charlie reached out a hand and took the pen. He stepped back before adding his own comment to the bottom. It seemed he was still worried that Don might try to take the gun off him again.

_And do what?_ Don thought. _With their father a prisoner he could do nothing_. Fair enough, yes, he had tried to take the gun earlier but that was just to be sure that it was safe. Well, as safe as a gun could be. It had been pointed at him and was going to be pointed at him again and he'd just wanted to be sure it wouldn't go off accidentally. He just had to trust now that the lesson in weapons handling he'd given Charlie some time ago was well learnt. As far as he'd been able to tell so far the weapon's safety was still on which was a start.

The note was handed back. He read the words scrawled on the bottom. _-I'm sorry. Help us. C.-_ Don swallowed against the lump that suddenly appeared in his throat. This situation was hard enough for him, he could barely imagine how hard it was on Charlie. His younger brother wasn't used to guns or the life and death pressure that came with them. Don held up his hands, right hand extended. He watched with a tinge of pain as his brother swapped the gun to his left and then held it well away before clasping the outstretched hand with his right. _'Trust me!'_ Don mouthed. The grip on his hand tightened briefly before Charlie nodded despite seeming unconvinced.

A long five minutes passed, Don remained sitting on the floor smoothing the folds of his note as Charlie prowled around the room. For a minute Charlie fiddled with the keys to the SUV removing the handcuff key which he placed in his pocket before resuming his restless prowl. Neither of them could relax as they waited for the next move to come from outside the room. When the call finally came they both jumped.

"LAPD. I'm unarmed." The male voice called from the hallway.

"Get up." Charlie ordered reaching out his left hand and helping Don to his feet. He pulled on the balaclava. He bought up the gun, mouthing the words:_ 'I'm sorry._'

Don nodded his understanding and allowed his younger brother to move in behind him. He felt Charlie take a hold of his collar before he felt the cold touch of the gun on the right side of his neck. He had another bad moment, no matter who held the weapon it was not a pleasant sensation. It took a deep breath to settle himself.

"Unlock the door."

He reached out and turned the latch.

"Open it."

After twisting the handle he gently pulled on the door opening it slowly, an inch, two and then finally eight. Wide enough to see out into the hallway and recognise the lone man wearing body armour standing in the middle, hands held up at shoulder level. Because of the angle Don could see down the hall to the fire exit and the SWAT officer waiting behind the partially opened door, the muzzle of his rifle raised and ready. He would only fire if the negotiator came under direct threat. Don was pushed forwards slightly so he opened the door further and took a step out into the hall.

"Agent, are you alright?" Tony Markham asked.

"Yes."

"He has some keys for me?"

Don felt the hand release his collar as Charlie dug into the pocket of his jacket. This was an opportunity to break away, especially as he now doubted that Charlie could pull the trigger. But he remained still, determined to play Luke's game if it brought them both to their father or at least ensured his release. Don was starting to wonder how far Luke expected the game to go. Making the situation go mobile was extremely dangerous for all concerned.

There was sudden movement to his left, Charlie's arm blurring in his vision as the keys to the SUV were tossed underhanded to the officer. The restraining hand returned to his collar.

"Repeat my instructions." Charlie demanded hoarsely into his ear with a gentle push on his collar so he was sure who Charlie wanted to speak.

"Sergeant, bring my car up to the front steps. Leave the keys in it and the engine running." Don repeated obediently.

The officer nodded. "Anything else?"

Charlie whispered into his ear. Don dutifully repeated the words. "Clear passage to my car and a safe route out of the campus. No tails."

"Clear passage, no tails." The negotiator repeated. "Anything else?"

More whispering. He swallowed. "You have ten minutes. Call to let him know all is ready or else he will shoot me."

"Understood, ten minutes." Markham started to back up but stopped suddenly as Don signalled.

-


	6. Chapter 6

**Numb3rs – Disarmed**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.

_CHAPTER SIX_

-1101-1-10010-1011-1000-1-1101-

Markham stopped and frowned. The FBI agent had suddenly raised his manacled hands and waved a folded piece of paper at him. He knew the relationship between the two men but it wasn't the first time that he'd dealt with a HT holding a family member hostage. In his experience it usually made it worse than if there was no relationship, a HT desperate enough to threaten family was more dangerous. This situation was still very volatile, the weapon pressing against the side of the hostage's neck was evidence of that. He needed to tread lightly. The other FBI agents had convinced him to go along with the HT's demands. They were emotionally involved, not a good thing, but had raised good points which combined with the hostage's terse radio message managed to sway him. But he was far from happy operating outside the rule book. SWAT were standing by for the moment this all went pear-shaped. Now the agent was waving a folded piece of paper at him and the HT was not countermanding his actions.

A finger then went to the agent's lips, the universal sign for silence. The hand then waved him closer. Markham looked to the HT for guidance and received a nod but the gun shifted fractionally in warning. Markham lifted his hands a little higher in acknowledgement of the warning and moved forward as the agent's _'come here'_ gesture increased in urgency. It seemed the agent wanted him to hurry. A moment and he was at the extreme edge of reaching distance. He didn't want to move close enough to be grabbed. There had already been one law enforcement officer taken hostage, _how that had happened he wasn't sure_, but there wasn't going to be another.

Carefully the sergeant extended his left hand and took the paper from the agent's fingers. He stepped back quickly and glanced at the name printed on the outside. _-Agent Reeves-_.

"Go!" The HT ordered in his hoarse voice.

The negotiator increased his pace backing towards the fire escape door, held open by the SWAT officer standing guard. Markham saw the agent get dragged back into the office and heard the click as the door was relocked. He hustled his way down the stairs. He glanced at his watch, 3:24pm. He set his stopwatch for eight minutes, giving himself two in the bank. He was on the clock.

At the bottom of the stairs he tossed the keys at the nearest officer. "Bring that FBI SUV up and park it here. Leave the engine running."

"Sarge." The young man acknowledged before racing towards the black suburban.

Markham glanced at his watch, six minutes left. He looked around for the FBI agents. "Agent Reeves!"

The female agent came running at his call and took the note he offered. He couldn't spare the time to read over her shoulder, he had orders to pass on and next to no time to do it in. He started away, seeing her wave at the other two agents whose names he'd forgotten. They made a beeline for the SUV already on the sidewalk and being abandoned by the LAPD officer.

He ran over to his truck and put out some urgent radio calls. He turned to the bank of monitors fed by the set of cameras on the truck's roof and watched as officers scrambled to clear a path from the math building to the road. He noted that the two FBI agents were pulling equipment, including a rifle and some Kevlar vests, from the back of the hostage's suburban. They were joined by Reeves, transferring the items to the boot of their sedan. _Good_. The fewer weapons that the HT had access to the better. Reeves then started towards his truck.

Markham put out a call for the nearest available unmarked surveillance unit to attend the area. He knew the one that responded wouldn't make it in time so he had to relay a description of the suburban and the tag number. He also tried for a LAPD helicopter but there was only one flight-ready and it was currently engaged with a high speed pursuit on the other side of LA. His boss was going to have his hide if this didn't turn out right, even though he'd put this squarely in the FBI's lap.

The alarm sounded on his watch. The eight minutes were up, his fudge factor now in play. Just at that moment the female agent climbed into the truck.

"Are you sure about this Agent Reeves?" He demanded, picking up the phone. He poised his other hand over the button that would connect the call.

"After this, more than sure." She waved the note at him but he still had no time to read it yet. "There is another hostage, held elsewhere."

That was a surprise. "Does Eppes know what he is doing?"

She nodded. "You have to let them go. "

"Your responsibility agent."

"Make the call."

He pressed the button and waited for the HT to answer. "This is Tony. The car is ready and the path cleared."

"_Move your men back."_

"They will let you through."

"_If you try anything the agent is dead."_

"I understand. They will only act if you harm Agent Eppes." The phone clicked in his ear, the line had been disconnected.

"Well, they're on their way." Markham told Reeves. She held the note out to him, spinning on her heel and leaving the truck after he'd taken the paper. He saw on one of the monitors that she was headed back towards the hostage agent's SUV and the other two agents.

He unfolded the note and smoothed it out on the desk in front of him.

_-Charlie is not a criminal, he is being forced to do this. A man named Luke has taken our father hostage and is holding him somewhere. Luke is controlling Charlie via an earwig comms system. Charlie is also bugged. Luke can't be far away. No matter what don't let the LAPD make it obvious that they know the real story. You have to make the LAPD go along with anything Charlie demands for now. I don't know who Luke is, whatever happens - __find him__! D.-_

There was another line in a different scrawl. _-I'm sorry. Help us. C.-_

The LAPD sergeant sat back. The weird way in which the hand over of the note had taken place in the hall now started to make some sense. They had been acting like they were under audio surveillance.

He remembered reminding Agent Eppes over the phone that he was under duress and thus messages from him were suspect. That had been after the hastily written transcript of the agent's words into the SWAT microphone was placed in front of him during the call to the HT. It still applied here. But if the note were to be believed, then both of the Eppes brothers were under duress and another life was truly at risk. There was a quick way to check, find their father. He was sure the FBI was already on it but he would need to make sure.

First things first, however. He went back over his orders making sure that the officers outside knew their roles. He then quickly wrote up his notes before details were forgotten. There was movement on the monitor aimed at the building entrance and he diverted his attention to it. It had taken a little longer than he'd expected. The SWAT officers were backing out of the building, moving away to form a corridor to the black SUV. Then the agent and the HT appeared. Markham had been about to get up and head outside but it was too late now for that, the sudden movement if he opened the truck's door could spook the HT. He had to stay where he was and watch the monitor, his hand poised over a microphone to issue orders if necessary.

-11-1000-1-10010-1100-1001-101-

"If you try anything the agent is dead." Charlie said into the phone. He was staring at his brother as he uttered the distressing words. There was no judgement in Don's expression, just support. He listened to the reply then replaced the handset.

He stepped away from the desk, closer to where Don was sitting on the floor. He'd once again forced his brother to the floor when they'd backed into the room after giving the cop the keys. For Luke to make him stand over Don, to threaten and to treat him like this, was wrong. He couldn't stand what he was doing, but he had to do it all the same. "Up."

At Don's answering flinch he instantly realised what he'd done. He didn't mean it, but as he'd spoken he had gestured with the gun. The movement had been automatic. Don knew the score, it was no longer necessary to perform all the motions to go with the verbal commands. _Did that mean he getting used to holding the gun? To threatening his brother with it?_ He jerked the weapon to one side and pointed it back at the floor. _'Sorry!'_ He mouthed.

A manacled hand rose briefly. Don forgave him. The older man then climbed to his feet holding his vest in his hands. The vest was then held out towards him. Charlie stared back momentarily perplexed.

'_Put it on.'_ Don mouthed the instruction at him.

He frowned and started to shake his head. _Luke hadn't said_… But then, _Luke wouldn't know until it was too late_, he suddenly thought. As Don had tried to warn him earlier, the SWAT teams waiting outside would be gunning for him, not Don. But he'd made it patently obvious to his brother earlier that a vest wouldn't protect from a head shot by a sniper. On the other hand, having the Kevlar between him and the potential bullets from SWAT was not a bad idea. The negotiator had warned that SWAT would only take action if Don was harmed but he was about to undertake a very dangerous manoeuvre and was going to be threatening Don in order to achieve his goal. It would not take much for them to think that Don was about to be harmed.

He took the vest but then wondered how he was going to put it on. He'd watched his brother and other agents put them on before, he'd even worn one himself. But each had always been assisted with ensuring everything was fitted correctly, he'd once helped Don with that. If he allowed Don to help him now it would put him in reach of the gun that his brother had already tried to take from him.

He realised the last attempt had been half hearted at best. The FBI trained its agents to disarm opponents and he was just a math professor, not a hardened criminal experienced in weapons retention. But it just threw too much uncertainty into the equation to allow Don to take the gun, no matter how dearly he wanted to give it to him. There was just too much risk that Luke would find out and then kill their father in retaliation. Already Luke was far too willing to cause harm to their father. Each time he'd been too slow to obey an instruction the agonised groans in his ear were proof of that. The longer he hesitated now brought their father closer to more pain. It couldn't be done. He started to drop the vest.

Don abruptly moved closer, hands raised with one finger extended and pointed at him. The finger was stabbed in his direction with each word as the agent repeated his silent command. _'Put. It. On!'_

Charlie partially raised the gun, not as a threat but to bring it to Don's notice.

Don shook his head, his face showing exasperation as his fists clenched in a flare of anger. He abruptly backed away, turned and dropped back to his knees. He raised his hands and put them behind his head, the chain between the cuffs resting on the back of his neck. Don's hands were still clenched into fists as he waited on his knees, still shaking his bowed head slightly. Charlie thought he could hear a slight muttering, Don was swearing at him.

Charlie was left standing there feeling like a right idiot. He had an idea how much it cost his brother to put himself in that position. The brief flare of panic he'd seen in Don's eyes when he'd first ordered him to kneel was only too fresh in his memory. Don had actually thought he was about to kill him, but obeyed him regardless and had then even given him a smile of forgiveness. And now his brother had done it again all because he wasn't trusted enough for the gun to be put down for a moment.

He became suddenly conscious of time slipping rapidly away. He put the gun down carefully on the edge of the desk, the faint 'thunk' causing Don's shoulders to tighten slightly. The vest slipped easily over his head and he started to do up the Velcro fasteners. It wasn't quite sitting right but it would have to do. He picked the gun back up and approached his brother from the side, not wanting to scare him further. His outstretched left hand lightly touched his older brother's right elbow. Don turned to look up at him, relief now on his face when he saw the vest.

Don pulled his hands back over his head and climbed to his feet. He held his hands up, palms outwards then cautiously approached him. Charlie nodded, deciding after what Don had just done he needed to trust his brother. Don started fussing with the straps, tugging gently on the vest until it sat properly. Charlie remembered Don once commenting that an ill-fitted vest was as bad as not wearing one at all. Adjustments completed Don stepped back and raised an eyebrow.

Charlie tilted his head towards the door and Don turned, ready to unlock it. Charlie pulled the balaclava back on before he took up his position behind his brother. He raised his left hand and was about to grab Don's collar when he dropped it onto his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze instead. One of Don's hands covered his for a moment before sliding away. A few seconds later and they were ready, left hand gripping Don's collar, right touching the gun to his brother's neck. Whatever happened in the next few minutes, they were alright. All was forgiven.

"Open the door." Charlie instructed. He winced as the angry voice in his ear told him to hurry it up. He'd taken too long. He added another instruction in an attempt to forestall Luke's next step. "Move."

They moved out into the corridor. It was empty. Don opened the fire exit door and the stairwell was also clear. At the bottom of the stairs was the other door, this one propped open. As they stepped into the corridor they were confronted by a full SWAT team, weapons up and tracking. They stopped.

"Back up." Charlie ordered. He saw Don raise his hands and make a pushing motion, non-verbally reinforcing his order.

The SWAT Commander met Charlie's eyes briefly before shifting his gaze slightly to the hostage. There was a moment of silent communion, officer to officer. Charlie saw Don's hands change position, now they were palm to palm in a prayer gesture that he read as meaning: _'please'_. Don was begging the SWAT Commander to let them through. The Commander's expression didn't change but he finally moved one hand away from his rifle and made a signal of his own.

The SWAT team obeyed, backing slowly towards the open doors. They kept moving and separated into two units, one each side of the stairs leading down to the SUV parked idling on the sidewalk. Charlie pushed Don forwards. As they emerged from the building he saw Megan, David and Colby standing off to one side. They were the only law enforcement officers in Charlie's line of sight without weapons out and pointed at him.

He wrenched his gaze away from them and turned his attention back to what he was doing. Charlie tucked himself in as close to his brother's back as he could before giving him another gentle push. They made their slow way down the steps. Moving between the two intimidating walls of black Charlie had never felt so threatened in all his life. His gun hand was trembling and he made sure that his finger was clear of the trigger. His back felt terribly exposed, despite the Kevlar. At least any bullets would have to go through two layers of the stuff before they could hit Don.

Finally they were at the SUV. He knew he was going to be vulnerable now. He couldn't help but give the SWAT snipers a clear shot as he pushed Don in through the passenger side door and indicated that he should climb across to the driver's position. Charlie climbed in as quickly as he could and was surprised to find himself sitting in the passenger seat without a bullet in his head. Despite Don's note demanding cooperation he had expected SWAT to take the opportunity to end the drama. Even Don hadn't seemed to be too sure that the LAPD would play along. But it wasn't over yet. He wasn't safe. Keeping the gun up and aimed at his brother's head he dug into his pocket and came up with the handcuff key.

"Unlock yourself."

Don took the key and undid the cuffs, dropping them onto the centre console. The agent held up the key allowing Charlie to retrieve it. Don obviously believed the handcuffs would be used again.

"Drive."

The SUV was put into gear and they slowly eased away from the building, down the curb and onto the roadway. Don navigated between the various police vehicles and the officers in place behind them, weapons out and aimed at them. A final black-and-white briefly blocked their path before reversing and creating an opening. Don drove out into the traffic, turning to the right as directed. A check of the mirrors showed no obvious pursuit.

Charlie lowered the gun, allowing it to rest on his lap. Pulling off the balaclava he looked back across at Don in relief. He couldn't believe that all in all it had gone so easily.

Don looked calm and not at all like someone held at gunpoint._ 'Let's get Dad.'_ Don mouthed at him.

--


	7. Chapter 7

**Numb3rs – Disarmed**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.

_CHAPTER SEVEN_

-1-1100-1-1110-

"_Drive."_ Charlie's voice came over the radio.

Alan had heard everything that Charlie had said since Luke had returned after taking his youngest from the office. He had listened in horror as Charlie had followed Luke's orders and taken hostages at gunpoint. Had been even more horrified to hear Don's voice filled with bitterness and anger. Then the fear projected by his eldest son that he'd had been harmed by Charlie came across all too clearly. This was why Alan had forbidden Charlie to obey his torturer. He was prepared to suffer any pain if it protected his boys. But he knew that both boys would do whatever they could to try and protect him. It was a situation that simply played right into Luke's hands, each Eppes would do anything to protect the others. It was their strength and an exploitable weakness.

"_Turn right."_

"Idiots!" Luke exclaimed. He made as if to throw the radio transceiver across the room but restrained himself.

"Not going to plan then, eh?" Alan offered. The hood and gag had been removed not long after Luke's return. But still being bound hand and foot there was nothing else he could do but taunt the man.

Luke rounded on the helpless, older man. He stalked closer in fury and Alan feared that he was in for some more pain. His tormentor was some sort of expert at causing pain with just a finger or two. Alan remembered Don once talking about pressure points used to control violent offenders during arrests. Don had even demonstrated one or two points when he'd been disbelieving that it was possible. Luke seemed to know them all very well, causing pain without injury.

Alan had recovered somewhat from the initial sustained attack that had bent Charlie to the man's will. Luke had since however been revisiting some of those pressure points every time he'd thought Charlie had been wavering in his task. Each time the radio had been held close enough so the sounds he made were transmitted to Charlie. He tried to keep silent but Luke was persistent and was able to make his prisoner cry out in pain. Readying himself for another round Alan defiantly lifted his chin and glared steadily at Luke as the man stopped next to him.

"Perhaps that is for the best."

Alan frowned at him.

"It just means you get to watch your son die, old man." Luke explained as a smile grew on his face. He held up the radio over which Charlie could be heard giving directions. "They'll be here in a few minutes."

Alan's blood froze then boiled at the man's casual statement of intention. _How dare he threaten his sons!_ "Why are you doing this?" He demanded.

"Agent Eppes took something from me that I will never get back. Last time I had him I was unable to do anything about it because we needed him. Now I am free to punish him."

_This man once 'had' his eldest son?_ But that could wait. "What did Don take from you?"

"My brother."

"So you, you want to take Don's brother away from him? To take my youngest son away from me?"

"If SWAT had stuck to procedure then that would be done. Now I have to do it myself."

Luke had taken some pains to describe the scenario he'd set up for Charlie and Don. Alan had been able to 'see' the SWAT officers pointing their weapons at his sons and had expected to hear the gunshots signalling the end of one or both of their lives. He just hadn't realised the full extent of Luke's plans, he was trying to deliberately make SWAT take action. "Why make SWAT kill Charlie? You had him here. Why not do it yourself in the first place?" _Oh, Lord, what was he saying?_

"Don't you get it, old man? Someone kills his brother and he can do nothing about it, can't take revenge."

Alan knew that Luke was right. If SWAT had killed Charlie, Don wouldn't have been able to do anything. It would have been a lawful shoot. Alan tried to remain dispassionate and reason it out. "You said you had Don before but couldn't avenge your brother. You want him to feel that helplessness?" At Luke's steady smile he continued, defending his eldest. "Don wouldn't have killed your brother if your brother had done nothing wrong. By doing the wrong thing he accepted the consequences."

"By causing my brother's death it is Agent Eppes that should accept the consequences."

"Charlie shouldn't have to pay… Just wait a goddamn minute! Caused? You mean that Don didn't actually kill your brother?"

"Because of him, to save him, my brother had to die."

_Say what?_ _A criminal had died to save his Donny? _That made no sense to Alan. He was going to have to have a word with Donny about keeping secrets. His son's reluctance to tell his own family what happened to him at the FBI was working against Alan's ability to figure out Luke's meaning.

"He never told you?"

Alan shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Looks like you're gonna find out."

"_We're here."_ Charlie's voice was scratchy over the radio.

Alan figured it was because they were now in the garage under the building. Charlie was obeying orders, bringing his brother to Luke's lair so that one could watch the other die. He was a little unclear as to which son Luke was going to target when he had both to choose from. He couldn't bear it. He was about to loose one, but most probably both of his sons. He felt the beginnings of despair, _a father should never outlive his sons_. His next thought was that it would be unlikely for him to outlive them by long. Hardly comforting, but there it was.

Neither of them had noted the unnatural silence from Don.

Luke raised the radio. "Make him put the handcuffs back on then bring him up."

-100-1111-1110-

Paying almost as much attention to the rear view mirror as to the road in front of him Don made the turns as ordered by Charlie. He thought he saw a black sedan about a block back, one that was the same make and model as that driven by David earlier on the wild ride to CalSci. The sunlight glinting on the windshield prevented him seeing the driver and it had dropped back behind another vehicle before he could see the tags. He hoped he was wrong, they didn't need to be that close to track the GPS chip installed on his SUV. If they were under surveillance from someone reporting to Luke he prayed that they hadn't noticed the sedan.

"That building, turn in."

Don obediently slowed and turned in noting that as expected they hadn't come very far from the CalSci campus. As they drove into the artificial light of the parking garage and headed down the ramp he had a sudden flash of memory, another garage, another SUV. Another Luke. Surely it was another Luke, it couldn't be the same. Deep down however, he knew it couldn't be a different man. The coincidence was too much. He recalled that Luke had been missed in the roundup when the other fake terrorists had been arrested. _This was bad, this was very bad_.

"We're here." Charlie announced.

The agent pulled the vehicle up near the elevators, noting a second black SUV already parked in a nearby spot. He turned the key and allowed the engine to die. They sat in silence for a moment, the engine ticking as it cooled. "What now?"

Charlie appeared to listen for a moment then reached over and plucked the handcuffs from the centre console. He held them out. "Put them back on."

Don took the cuffs but hesitated. He could take Charlie, take the weapon from him before he would be able to put up an effective resistance. Their father had to be in this building. Charlie would tell him where. He raised his eyes to meet his brother's. The only problem was Charlie seemed to know what he was thinking. He'd hesitated too long. His brother was backed up as far as he could get in the confined space of the vehicle's interior, fear on his face and the weapon raised between them. No, taking action now would just get their father killed. The sounds of the struggle would alert Luke who would be able to pull the trigger long before Don would even make it to the elevator. That explained Charlie's fear. Looking away in defeat he once again he fitted the restraints around his own wrists. "Alright, Charlie. Whatever you want."

"Out."

Don pushed his door open and stepped down to the concrete garage floor. He shouldered the door closed before walking around the front of the SUV to meet his brother. He was waved over to the elevator and Don watched as Charlie made two attempts to press the call button, his hand was shaking that badly, before it finally illuminated.

Don looked at his brother in concern. Charlie's face was anguished, his whole body trembling. He could barely look Don in the eye. Abruptly he turned away. Don suspected he knew what was happening. They were nearing the end and the moment of truth.

"Charlie?" The younger man shook his head. Don put a bit more steel into his tone. "Charlie?"

"Don, please. Don't." He turned back, eyes brimming. He looked ready to crack. Suddenly he swapped the gun to his left hand and held out it out, butt first.

Don looked to the weapon then up at his brother's face. He took a step back, shaking his head. Whereas a few moments ago he had contemplated taking the gun by force he now realised that it was useless in his hands. Their father was still a hostage and he was sure that Luke would be prepared for such an eventuality, for the tables to have been turned. No, it was better if Charlie continued to hold the weapon. Better that Don went up helpless, like a lamb to the slaughter. Luke would most likely demand the surrender of the gun the moment they arrived on whatever floor they were headed to anyway.

But he suddenly remembered that Charlie had a second gun, one that Luke might not be aware of. Don had no way of telling whether or not Luke had ordered Charlie to pocket his Glock. Operating on the assumption that it had been something Charlie had done of his volition, Don stepped back closer to his brother. Ignoring the proffered weapon he instead lightly touched the pocket on Charlie's jacket that held the Glock. It was lucky that the jacket was long enough so that the pocket hung below the bottom of the Kevlar vest and was still accessible. He then touched the spare magazine still sitting in its pouch on his own belt.

Charlie blinked, the anguish on his face was replaced by hope. He reached out his right hand and touched the magazine before miming pulling it out and putting it into the same pocket with the Glock. Don frowned and Charlie repeated the action this time pretending to put the magazine into the gun he was still holding before pretending to put it into his pocket. He was offering to load the Glock.

Don shook his head. It was better if the Glock remained unloaded for now. If he were able to make an attempt for it later he could load it then. With his hands manacled it would be hard and take precious seconds but he'd practiced one handed loading so he knew he could manage. If Luke did know about the gun he didn't want him pulling the loaded weapon from Charlie's jacket.

The elevator finally arrived. Don resolutely stepped inside turning back to face the doors and waited for Charlie to follow. Charlie finally moved and took up a position behind Don, keeping up appearances. He'd taken the gun back into his right hand and was once again holding it on him.

"Four."

Don pressed the button and the doors closed. He noted the 'for lease' tags beside most of the floors and only two had business names beside them. He'd seen that this was a new building and it was obviously virtually empty. He glanced around and saw the small camera lens in the corner, there was no way to tell if it was functioning. It could have been installed by Luke or could just be standard building security. If it were security it was unlikely to be monitored, with the current occupancy rate there would be no money to support a security office. That left the possibility it was monitored by Luke. With that in mind Don stood still and stared at the doors in front of him.

It was all going to be over soon, one way or the other. He felt remarkably calm having made his decision back in the math department office. If necessary he would die to save his family. If that meant offering himself up meekly then he would do it. If not then he would go down fighting to get his family out. He'd made this decision before and had been tested and that hadn't been for family. He knew he wouldn't back down, no matter what. As the elevator car rose and the number steadily counted upwards he straightened his back and used the limited time to ready himself for whatever would follow.

_**A/N:**__ For those who haven't yet made the connection (although I'm sure that most of you have) this is a sequel to Vigilante Terrorist. Luke made his appearance in Chapter 2._

_--_


	8. Chapter 8

**Numb3rs – Disarmed**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.

_CHAPTER EIGHT_

-1101-101-111-1-1110-

"Damn! Lost the signal." Colby reported.

"What! Where?" Megan demanded closing up her cell after receiving the confirmation she'd dreaded.

"There." Colby pointed at the new twenty story office building a short distance down the street. "Somewhere around there."

It would have to be that building, on one side of it was a vacant lot, yet to be developed. The rest of the small block had parking lots servicing the businesses in the area. They only way they would have lost the GPS signal from the SUV was if the vehicle had gone underground. The office building's underground parking garage fitted the criteria.

David pulled the sedan over and glanced at his rear view mirror. "We've got company."

"Where?" Megan resisted the urge to spin around.

"Half a block back."

Believing that they were being watched none of the three gave any obvious sign that they'd spotted the tail. Below the level of the sedan's windows however hands loosened guns in holsters. Megan reached for her phone, put it on speaker and dialled the number she'd just been given.

"_Markham_."

"This is Reeves. You got a unit following us?"

"_Standby."_ There were sounds of a brief radio call in the background. _"Should be a white Ford, two officers."_

"That's it." David said still watching the mirror closely.

"Okay. Sergeant, we think they've gone into the new building on the corner of El Dorado and Los Robles." Megan explained. "I'm calling in for some back up from the Field Office."

"_I'll get some units headed your way."_

"No. We don't know if there is any surveillance, a bunch of black-and-whites will alert them that we're onto them."

"_LAPD's still got a stake in this, Agent."_ Markham insisted.

"We're not shutting you out. Just keep those units back and out of sight."

"_I'll move them up but you won't see them. You got comms?"_

Megan reached for the hand held radio on the seat beside her, part of the equipment they'd removed from Don's SUV. She switched it on and dialled up the general LAPD frequency. "Which channel?"

"_Tac 3."_

"FBI Reeves to Sergeant Markham, receiving?" Megan called over the radio after making the appropriate selection.

"_Markham to FBI. Received."_ Markham switched back to the cell phone. _"The unmarked unit is Sierra-260. Keep us in the loop, Agent Reeves."_

"Will do." Megan promised as she disconnected the call.

She took the phone off speaker and dialled again. She got through to FBI Control and put in a request for two teams of agents and an FBI SWAT unit. Not really knowing the true extent of the situation or how many offenders there were she felt the more backup they had the better. Three of their own were in trouble. For SWAT to be authorised to deploy however she had to go through Merrick. With limited time for Megan to explain the situation Merrick's first response was doubt.

"_How do we know that Doctor Eppes hasn't flipped out?"_ Merrick demanded.

"Sir, Don wrote a note stating that Alan Eppes had been taken and was being held. Charlie is under duress."

"_So is Agent Eppes." _

"Don wouldn't have cooperated this far no matter who the HT was if Alan wasn't a hostage. I sent one of our agents around to the house and he reported in a few minutes ago. Alan isn't there and his car is in the driveway. Agent Dillard spoke to the neighbours and one recalled seeing Alan leave in a black SUV with a man in a suit. Dillard checked and he's not at the Field Office. I have Dillard running out inquires to try to locate Alan but it looks like someone has taken him." Megan reported. That had been the phone call as they'd lost Don's signal. She fingered the plastic evidence bag in her lap containing pieces of paper. "We also found some notes in the office at CalSci. Don and Charlie were writing messages to each other. That follows with Don's message about the offender using an earwig to control Charlie."

She had run up into the math building as Don and Charlie had driven away from the sidewalk. She had just a minute or two to conduct a sweep, not knowing what she was looking for until she'd found the notes. By the time she'd got back down to the parking lot and rejoined Colby and David the SUV had disappeared from sight. They'd raced out into the street after it, following the blip on their screen. A couple of minutes ago David had dodged around a small truck and almost landed on Don's back bumper. He'd backed off in a hurry hoping that Don hadn't spotted them. That had been a block before they'd lost the signal.

Merrick considered for a moment. _"Who is the alleged offender?"_

"Someone called Luke. Don says he doesn't know who he is." Getting frustrated at the time being taken by the conversation she added: "Sir, these are our people."

"_I know that Reeves."_ Merrick sounded annoyed that she'd played that card as if he'd needed the reminder. _"I'll get someone onto the files. SWAT is authorised. You have tactical command. Keep me apprised."_

"Yes, Sir." Megan closed the phone. A brief moment of panic passed over her, she remembered the last time she had tactical command on a raid. She'd lost an agent. She straightened in her seat, it wasn't going to happen again.

-100-1111-1110-

The elevator doors slid open onto an empty hallway. Don carefully stepped out, looking both ways as soon as he cleared the doors. Empty. Not what he expected at all. He moved all the way out so as to leave room for Charlie behind him. The frosted glass walls devoid of business names gave no clues, all the doors leading off the hall were also closed.

"Left." Charlie supplied, he had regained his composure during the ride in the elevator. "The last door."

Upon reaching the door Don stopped with his hands hovering above the handle. He turned back to his brother. There was no longer any need as far as he could see to continue the pretence. "Charlie whatever happens you did the right thing. I want you to understand that."

"I-." Charlie stopped, guilt was plastered on his face. "I'm sorry Don. I couldn't let him hurt Dad any more. But that meant that I…"

"Charlie, listen to me." Don grabbed one of his younger brother's shoulders in a firm grip. He had to get his message across, once they went through the door he would probably not get another chance. The game played at this level would have only one likely conclusion. "You had no choice. You have nothing to be sorry for. Is that clear?"

Charlie could only nod.

"I'm proud of you buddy. Remember that." Don saw sudden understanding dawn on Charlie's face, the realisation that what Don was really saying was goodbye. Charlie's mouth opened to protest but snapped it closed again. This was not the time or place for an argument. Don gave his brother's shoulder one last squeeze before firmly turning his back. He twisted the handle and walked through.

Luke was waiting just inside the door. Don was grabbed roughly and shoved forward, a foot at his ankle tripping him up. He landed heavily on the floor and tried to roll over but a heavy foot planted on his back held him down. He turned his head instead and looked up into the face of the man standing over him. He'd been right, it was the same Luke.

"Shut up." Luke ordered before the agent had a chance to say anything. Luke turned to face Charlie holding out his right hand. "Gun."

The professor handed over the weapon as if it were red hot, obviously glad to be rid of it. Luke waved it at Charlie, "Over there." He ordered before pointing the weapon at the agent under his foot. Luke gave a final hard shove before stepping off Don's back. Bending quickly before Don had the chance to move he pressed the muzzle of the pistol firmly into the back of his neck. Luke ran his hand quickly over his legs, checking for backup weapons. He pulled the empty holster from Don's belt and threw it aside. He missed the magazine holder, the way his captive was lying obscured it from his view. He jabbed the pistol harder into the agent's neck. "Show me the cuffs."

Don couldn't help wincing at the way the muzzle of the pistol was shifting painfully across his vertebrae. He obeyed the command, slowly rolling onto his side and moving his arms away from his body to expose his wrists. The gun tracked as he moved to end up pressing up under his chin forcing his head back. He held still as Luke checked each cuff. Satisfied, the man finally backed off.

"Get up."

He rose to his feet taking a second to glance around the office to try to get a hint of its layout. He saw that Charlie was clearly itching to move towards a closed door that probably led into an adjoining office. That must be where their father was being held. He could see into a second office that was furnished only with a single chair from which hung some plastic ties.

"So you figured it out, hey Eppes?"

"Yeah." Don replied. The vest Charlie was wearing and the conversation at the door a moment ago made that obvious. He noted the discarded radio lying on the floor beside the still open door. Despite making no difference as to where they had ended up, as far as he was concerned their own deception had succeeded. The advantage he'd gained may have only been to patch things up with Charlie before entering this end game, but that gave him the strength to continue. He turned his full attention back to the man who had orchestrated this show. "Hello Luke. Long time, no see."

"Remember me, huh?" Luke quickly swapped the gun to his left hand then swung his right fist striking Don on the jaw, knocking the agent sprawling. "Remember that?"

Don licked at the gash in his inner lip caused by his teeth and climbed a little unsteadily back to his feet. He looked over to see his brother starting to come to his aid and held his hands up in a 'stop' gesture. Charlie had to stay out of this. Don turned back to Luke. Last time he'd been seated when he was punched but the end result was the same. He moved his jaw to loosen it up. "Yeah, I remember that."

"Good."

"Before we get into this I want to see my father." Don demanded. Charlie had mentioned that Luke had hurt him and he needed to see just what the man had done. He needed to know if his father was alright. Everything else at the moment was secondary.

"You don't get to make ultimatums, Eppes."

The second punch was much harder than the first, so was his landing on the floor. Don groaned, tasting more blood. He worked his jaw and was relieved it wasn't broken, painful but not broken. He managed to push himself up to his hands and knees, shaking his head in an effort to clear the stars from his vision. That was the same mistake he made last time he was in this position. The powerful kick to his ribs knocked him back down again.

"Remember that?"

The agent managed to get a breath, at least one rib felt like it was cracked. Luke kicked harder than the other man, a man he'd named Boots. One part of his mind wondered clinically if Luke was going to follow up with the second kick as he lay on his side. "It wasn't you." He gasped out. _No, just someone employed by the same man and who was now dead._

"That's right. But he told me he'd enjoyed it." Luke grinned. "As I just did."

That implied a relationship of some sort between his assailant almost a year ago and this man, last seen a few days before Christmas. Putting two and two together he came up with: revenge. Luke was after revenge.

"Not for long." Don goaded, trying to imply with his tone that Luke would have the same fate.

Luke could afford to ignore the implied threat, the agent was at his mercy, not the other way round. "That's right. You got him killed."

"I didn't kill anyone." Even though he knew it would make no difference, Don wanted to clarify that point.

"As good as."

Breathing shallowly and trying to ignore the pain in his side Don took the risk and pushed himself up to his knees. He was surprised when Luke kept his distance instead of delivering the second kick to his back. Then Charlie was at his side despite his quick hand gesture telling him to stay back. Accepting the inevitable he took his brother's help and made it back up to his feet, realising in the process that he probably wouldn't have made it without assistance. "We want to see our father."

"Perhaps it is time." Luke waved the gun. "The Professor knows the way."

_A/N: references to 'Failure'. Things will become clearer soon…_

_--_


	9. Chapter 9

**Numb3rs – Disarmed**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.

_CHAPTER NINE_

-100-1111-1110-

Charlie provided support and stability, holding onto Don's right arm and leading him over to the door he'd been looking at earlier. Charlie pulled the door open and helped him inside. In the centre of the room was a lone chair, its occupant staring at them in distress.

"Dad." Don said, going to his side and placing his hands over his father's right. Their fingers locked together as Charlie took up a similar position on Alan's left. Don looked worriedly at his father, he didn't look well but there were no visible wounds, just some bruising. The bruising was located on the backs of his hands between the knuckles, at the centre of the muscle groups on the arms and on his neck near the angle of the jaw. Don knew what those locations signified, he'd used them himself on offenders from time to time. He also knew exactly how much pain could be caused by pressure on the nerves at those points. Repeated usage just amplified the effect and caused bruising.

"Donny. Charlie." Alan acknowledged, looking from one son to the other.

"It'll be alright, Dad."

"No son, I don't think it will." Alan was now looking past them at Luke. "Let my boys go. Whatever punishment you want to exact, take it out on me. They are my responsibility. I'll bear the consequences of their actions."

"No Dad!" Don protested.

"Heh! You don't even know what you're taking responsibility for, old man." Luke was amused at the offer.

"I know enough. You told me your brother is dead because of my son."

"Brother?" Don looked at Luke. The man he'd named Boots had been this man's family? That explained the motivation behind this whole scenario, making his conclusion of revenge all the more solid. He had a clear idea where this was leading now. Luke had been re-enacting what had happened back then, repeating Boots' actions by knocking him to the floor and kicking him. That had given him the link. The next step was all too fresh in Don's memory despite the months that had passed since then. If that was the way it was going to be then he was ready. Luke's next words though changed his mind.

"My younger brother."

_Oh, no._ Don glanced at Charlie as the reason for the hostage barricade situation at CalSci burned with sudden clarity through his thoughts. Luke had wanted Charlie to die there, shot down like a criminal by the police. Not only that Luke wanted Don to think the worst of his brother, to watch him die thinking that he'd harmed their father. His lip curled up in a snarl as he stepped away from his father to face the man. "Bastard! _Telson_ killed your brother. My family had nothing to do with it."

"Your brother helped to put the man I admire in prison."

"Charlie had nothing to do with it. I caught Telson and Ryder." Which one Luke admired Don didn't know or care. He took another step. "Why are you doing this? I'm sure you could have killed me any time over the last few months."

"Maybe, but I wanted you to suffer. As I did."

The emotional anguish Luke had put him through, thinking what he had thought about Charlie just added to his fury. "You hardly suffered. You went to work for your brother's murderer!"

"I had to find out what had happened."

"So you found out and still helped Telson anyway."

"I believed in what he was doing. I still do."

"Must have been hard then, not shooting me when you had the chance."

"You have no idea." Luke looked at his three captives. "Tell them, tell them what happened. How they've been dragged into your mess."

Don looked back at Charlie and his father. They were both aware of who Telson was after his involvement with the incident at the North LA Mall just prior to Christmas. Following Megan's advice he'd eventually told them most of what had happened. But he'd not been as forthcoming about the first time he'd dealt with Telson or his men. Now they needed to know. "Early last year you remember I was kidnapped from the hotel after an informant was murdered? His brother was one of those men. After they let me go Telson killed the whole team, including his brother."

"Tell them his name." Luke interrupted.

"I don't remember." Don said deliberately.

"You lie! Tell them."

"I forgot. It wasn't important." He forced a callous tone into his voice. He wanted to make Luke focus his hatred on him and away from Charlie or his father.

"My brother, Kym, nearly got to execute you." Luke said angrily, getting to the point he wanted made. Luke stepped forward raising the pistol, flipping off the safety and pointing it squarely between the agent's eyes. His voice rose with each word. "Did you forget that? Have you forgotten what that felt like? Was that _important_ enough for you?"

Don faced him without flinching. He ignored the muzzle of the gun just a foot or so away, just as he ignored the shocked gasps from his family. This was the part he'd wanted kept from them. He glared directly into Luke's eyes. "I remember. Telson cheated him of that too. I hardly had a say in the matter, just as I didn't have a say in Telson killing him."

"He didn't even get to die like a man, like he was going to let you. He was drugged before being shot."

The toxicology results had shown the presence of a sedative in the bloodwork from the three men of the team. The fourth dead man found in that vacant lot the day after his kidnapping had no such sedative. Don had always suspected that Telson had used the team to take out their informant from the DA's office before he drugged and killed them. Telson was well trained but even he wouldn't have been able to take out all three ex-military men and emerge unscathed otherwise.

"Telson's doing, as you well know."

"Telson was under orders to protect you."

"That wasn't my fault. He had more than enough chances to take me out if he'd wanted to regardless what Ryder ordered. But he didn't."

"Believe me he wanted to." Luke taunted before moving back. "Well you can't blame this on Telson. This is your fault, you let him bring you here." Luke swung the gun until it pointed at Charlie and pulled the trigger.

"No!" Don screamed as the gun's aim shifted. He launched himself sideways, putting himself between the bullet and his brother. It never even crossed his mind that his brother was wearing a Kevlar vest. All he could think of was protecting Charlie, saving him regardless of the cost to himself. The sound of the gunshot was unnaturally loud in the enclosed space. As he hit the floor Don felt the pain lancing up his side.

Charlie was kneeling beside him an instant later. He lifted Don's head, cradling it in his lap. Charlie frantically ran his hands over Don's chest looking for the bullet wound. There wasn't one. Don looked down at himself, not seeing the blood he expected. He started to draw in a shaky breath but froze at the sharp stabbing pain in his side. That explained it, the cracked rib was now well and truly broken from his landing on the floor. But he was sure he'd been shot, Luke couldn't have missed and Charlie was okay. Where had the bullet gone?

"Donny!" Alan's voice was frantic.

"I'm alright, Dad." His voiced sounded far from alright. Don cleared his throat and tried to sound stronger. "I wasn't hit."

"Oo, hoo!" Luke chortled. "Nice!"

Don looked up to see Luke discard the weapon. He watched it arc through the air and land on the carpet with a dull thud, bouncing once. Luke pulled another gun from a shoulder holster, slipping off the safety.

"This one is loaded with real bullets. That one had blanks in it."

Both he and Charlie had thought that the weapon was loaded which was clearly what Luke wanted. Don was horrified. Luke had sent Charlie out to wave a gun around that wasn't even loaded. Charlie had never even been given a chance of defending himself.

"You would take a bullet for him even after he betrayed you?" Luke asked, clearly enjoying himself.

Don directed his words at Charlie. "Help me up."

"You're hurt."

"Now, Charlie." There was no arguing against that tone. His brother moved and helped him up to his feet. Don faced Luke, bracing his arm against his side to support his ribs. He again placed himself between the gun and his family. "I will take a bullet for both of them, or whatever else you want to do to me. Let them go."

"I don't think so."

"Why not?" Don demanded, exasperated. "You wanted me, I'm here. I'm yours."

"And you're going to pay for what you did."

"Fine, I'll pay. You don't need them."

"I want them to know what you did."

"They know." Don argued back. "You don't need them anymore."

"I want them to watch." Luke was enjoying Don's desperation.

"Your brother died alone, away from his family. I should too." Don suggested, suddenly inspired. Dying alone was the second worst thing he could imagine. Having his family watch him being murdered would be much, much worse. He would rather die alone than have them endure that.

"Yeah, I like the sound of that." Luke allowed after appearing to consider for a moment.

"Let them go. Then you can have your fun like the coward you are." Don saw the amusement drain from Luke's face to be replaced with a flush of anger.

"I'm not a coward."

"Torturing and threatening an old man?" The anger washed over him in a red haze. He didn't think but acted, allowing his emotions to take over. It wasn't until too late that he realised his mistake. He took a couple of aggressive paces forward just as he had in the math office. And now, as then, he only stopped when the gun was pressing into his chest. This time however, with his hands imprisoned by the handcuffs he wouldn't be able to attempt to disarm Luke. His eyes were as cold and hard as obsidian, boring into Luke's jade green ones. He continued his tirade. "Forcing a college professor to do your dirty work? Too scared to take me on yourself? That is the work of a coward. _You_ are a coward."

Luke snarled, shoving Don back to arms length before swinging his right arm so fast it blurred in Don's sight. It was a few moments before he was able to form a lucid thought as he lay once again on the floor, _perhaps he'd pushed it too far_. He was getting too familiar with the tasteful grey on grey patterning, the smell of the fresh carpet tickling his nose almost making him sneeze. With his broken rib that would be a disaster and he fought against it. He also probably shouldn't bother trying to get up again, assuming he could even manage it. The room had the tendency at the moment to wobble alarmingly and that was without him moving an inch. Another flashback, this was where it had started all those months ago, a blow from a pistol to the side of his head.

"I'm not a coward!" Luke yelled, not finished yet. Contradicting his statement he let fly a vicious kick delivered to the helpless agent's midsection.

Through the resulting haze that obscured his vision he saw the blob that was Charlie rush in to defend him. The two hazy blobs grappled for a moment over Don's body. He suffered another kick, accidental but still painful, before Charlie was flung away to hit the wall and slide unmoving to the floor. Don had not been able to take advantage of the distraction, the pain too intense to even contemplate moving. He'd barely been able to track the action.

Luke savagely jerked the slide back on his semi-automatic replacing the round in the chamber, a necessary precaution to prevent a misfire after misusing the weapon as a club. He put his foot against Don's side and pushed him roughly onto his back. Dropping one knee forcefully onto the agent's chest there was a painful snap as another rib gave. Luke jabbed the weapon against Don's forehead. "I'll kill you for that!"

Don coughed and gasped for breath as the fire from the newly broken rib spread up his side, out competing the pain from the blow to his head. He fought to draw enough air into his lungs against the restrictive pressure of Luke's body weight. The world narrowed to the man looming over him. His plan to divert Luke's attention to him had succeeded only too well. It seemed his worst fear was about to be realised. Despite his body's continuing struggle to survive Don knew it was all over and accepted it. He refused to close his eyes, staring upwards as he got the last word in. "Good … then I won't … have to look … at you."

--


	10. Chapter 10

**Numb3rs – Disarmed**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.

_CHAPTER TEN_

_The cavalry arrives..._

-1101-101-111-1-1110-

Fortunately it was still a short time before the evening peak hour started so the teams of agents requested by Megan were able to make good time through the relatively light LA traffic. Lights and sirens helped but they were switched off a few blocks away. FBI SWAT arrived about five minutes later. They all convened at a nearby parking lot out of the possible line of sight from the building.

Megan had left David with the LAPD surveillance unit keeping the building under observation. David had taken up a position in their vehicle on El Dorado whilst the LAPD surveillance team split up to cover the other angles with their vehicle on Los Robles. Not ideal using only three officers to watch a four sided structure but it would have to do for now. The exit to the garage was a primary point being watched by David so they should know if Don's SUV left. The LAPD officers could see the pedestrian entrance. Megan had left orders that any vehicle that left the garage was to be identified and intercepted away from the building by the LAPD units holding nearby. If Don's SUV left then it was to be stopped as a matter of urgency using whatever force was required. The situation would not go mobile again. Another call to Markham and he was able to confirm that he had enough units in place to totally lock down the area within a minute if necessary.

"Earlier this afternoon Professor Charles Eppes, Charlie, armed himself with a semi-automatic pistol and took a group of people hostage at CalSci. He demanded to see Agent Don Eppes." Megan began her briefing. She saw the recognition amongst her audience at the names and the shock of what Charlie had done. "Charlie then released his hostages but held Agent Eppes. Charlie then demanded and got transport and free passage from CalSci. At about 1600hrs he and Don drove into the garage of that building." She pointed at the new high rise office tower, the upper edge of which was just visible from their position.

"We have some suspicions and a lot of unknowns here." Megan continued. "What we suspect is that their father Alan Eppes has been taken by an unknown male earlier today and is being held hostage to ensure Charlie's cooperation. We have a communication from Agent Eppes supporting this scenario and a witness that saw Alan Eppes leaving his home this morning with the unknown male. We have been unable to locate him since. We don't know how many offenders we are dealing with nor where they are located in the building. We also don't know what their agenda is."

"Are you sure that this isn't just a math professor gone postal?" One of the SWAT team asked. They all knew who Charlie was and that this behaviour was way out of character, but as professionals involved in law enforcement they all knew that people did act out of character occasionally and sometimes that resulted in these types of scenarios.

"We can't guarantee it." Megan admitted. "But we have had communication with Don which indicates otherwise. I know he is being held at gunpoint but I know Don and he would never have passed on the message that he did nor would he have followed Charlie's orders this far unless what he said was true." There was obvious agreement at that. Don was something of a legend around the office and they all knew that he would have put up resistance, violently if necessary, rather than allow the situation to go mobile against every rule in the book unless there was more to it than what met the eye.

"Or he believed it to be true." The same SWAT agent commented. It seemed he was determined to play Devil's Advocate. It was an important role. They had to be prepared for every eventuality, including one where they would have to take down a friend to save an agent.

"There is that." Megan prayed that she was right and that it wouldn't come to them having to take out Charlie. But she had to admit the possibility. Although the evidence and her instincts pointed towards the scenario she'd outlined Megan allowed that using Occam's Razor it was just as probable, if not more so, for the SWAT agent to be correct. Bearing that in mind Megan summed up. "At the very least we have one agent in there being held against his will. I firmly believe however that there are actually three hostages. We will only be able to assess that after we've gone in so be prepared for either case."

"What about negotiation?"

"We've had no contact from Charlie since they left CalSci. He's not answering his cell neither is Alan Eppes. We tried Don's and LAPD advised that they located his cell at CalSci. We have a name of the possible offender, Luke, but no other details. We have no way of contacting them at this time. Unless something changes we have no option but to go tactical." A less than ideal situation but going tactical never was. "Do you have the blueprints?"

"Right here." Another SWAT agent held up a long tube. After September 11 all plans for major buildings had to be supplied to local FBI Field Offices to be held in the event of a terrorist related incident. They could also be used for situations such as this.

The SWAT agents had the blueprints unrolled and spread out on the concrete a few moments later. With booted feet holding down the corners of the large scale blueprint the agents gathered around and reviewed their options. Luck was with them, with the exception of the top two floors, all levels in the building were identical in layout. That meant that despite not knowing which floor Don and Charlie were on they could design plans of attack to suit the two different layouts.

Access was simple enough, whilst using the elevators was out there were two flights of stairs. The flights were located at each end of the floors giving them two points of entry. That just left the problem of identifying the correct floor. They could hardly go bursting out onto each level and conduct a search as that would eliminate any element of surprise allowing the hostages to be killed before they could be saved. No they would have to work out a way to check the floors covertly so they knew which one to raid.

Colby grabbed a red baseball cap from a locker in the back of the SWAT truck and put it backwards onto his head. "Pizza delivery." He announced in a cheerful, but obviously forced, tone as he held up an imaginary pizza box. "Tried and true."

Megan agreed. Colby could ride up in the lift, stopping at each floor and checking it out under the guise of delivering a pizza order. He would then radio in once he'd found them. "Let's set it up. Get ready to roll."

Colby dug further into the locker. It contained a number of quick disguises designed for just this application, including a US Postal Service uniform. It was a bit late in the day for mail delivery so pizza man was the way to go. He located a jacket from one of LA's many pizza delivery outfits and slipped it on. Fortunately he was already wearing jeans and running shoes today so the outfit was complete. He slipped his badge off his belt and into a pocket and checked that the jacket obscured his gun from casual sight. He slipped an earwig into his right ear and the receiver tuned to their current frequency onto the back of his belt. Checking that his digital radio was on and working he turned the speaker volume off. He would hear any calls via the earwig. A normal earpiece and radio would be too obvious, as would be a Kevlar vest. Grabbing a couple of empty cardboard boxes he was set to go.

SWAT meanwhile were strapping on their vests and extra weapons, checking loads and spare magazines. Communications were set up and also checked. The other teams of agents likewise readied themselves.

Megan made a quick call to Merrick giving him a quick run down on their plan and that they were about to move.

Now they just needed a distraction and this was where Markham was able to provide further assistance. Megan called him and arranged for two black-and-whites to do a speed run under full lights and sirens down Los Robles to distract the attention of anyone looking for the police. A third black-and-white would follow a few seconds later as additional reinforcement to the distraction. This would allow the vehicles containing the FBI agents to drive into the garage under the office building from El Dorado, hopefully undetected. The rapid entry of three vehicles would cause far less attention than if fifteen or so agents in full kit were to run down the sidewalk and into the garage. That could not fail to cause a stir that would alert the real HT.

They jumped into the vehicles and pulled to the edge of the parking lot. The two ambulances that had rolled up a few minutes before, called automatically whenever a SWAT unit entered the field, were to hold position. Less than thirty seconds later the first two black-and-whites made their way down Los Robles. The three FBI vehicles raced out onto the street and along the short distance to the entrance to the underground garage. As they turned in the third LAPD unit made it's run, bulldozing its way through traffic that had started to fill in after the first two units. Horns blared as vehicles took evasive action. The distraction was all that they had hoped for.

A moment or so later they were joined by David in the black sedan. They pulled to a stop near the elevators. Megan immediately went to the familiar black SUV opening the driver's door and checking the interior whilst another agent checked the back. Colby provided the last agent from their team with a catch up briefing as David opened the trunk and pulled out his own vest, strapping it on with his partner's assistance. The other agents fanned out heading towards their assigned positions at the two stairwells. Two agents remained with the vehicles on the off chance that their quarry might double back.

"It's Don's." Megan confirmed unnecessarily, they had all recognised the tags. "No one in it."

"And no one has left the building." David reported.

"Good." She gave orders to the two waiting agents to disable Don's SUV and the other one parked next to it. During that time David set up his radio and checked his weapon. "All set?" Megan asked after one last check of the two teams. David was at a disadvantage not having seen the blueprints but there was no time for him to see them now. She assigned him to the other team, but not as it's leader due to that lack of knowledge. One of the SWAT agents took that role. She knew that he would understand just as he would know she wanted someone intimately familiar with Charlie to be on each team. She took the lead position on hers and nodded to Colby. Show time.

11-1111-1100-10-11001-

Colby pressed the call button on the elevator, noting that it came down from the fourth floor. If David was right and no one had left via the garage that made it likely it was still on the floor Charlie had taken Don. Colby held up four fingers to indicate the likely floor. Megan nodded in reply and at her command the two teams entered the stairwells heading up. Colby entered the waiting elevator. He would pay special attention to the fourth floor but would have to clear each other floor on the way up.

The elevator chimed on the first floor. Colby raised his 'pizzas' and stepped out confidently. He glanced around at the glassed in foyer, recognising the layout from the blue prints. The place had that deserted feeling, something cops learned to pick up after a few years with just a glance. He went through the motions however, quickly checking each door to find them all locked. There were no sounds of movement confirming his instant assessment. It had taken less than a minute. He raised his radio as he pressed the elevator call button again. "Clear. Going up."

The doors opened and he stepped back into the waiting car. He repeated his actions on the second and third floors. Finally: "Clear. Going up to four. Ready?"

"_Ready."_ Megan's terse reply came via his earpiece.

--

_A/N: We have now caught up to present time, the cavalry is in place. Next chapter tomorrow_.


	11. Chapter 11

**Numb3rs – Disarmed**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.

_CHAPTER ELEVEN_

-11-1000-1-10010-1100-1001-101-

"Clever, clever Agent." Luke abruptly stood. "You almost made me do it. But I've not had nearly enough fun yet."

From where he lay on the floor a few feet away Charlie could hear his brother's painful struggle for breath. He'd been stunned for a moment after being thrown against the wall and was relieved beyond words that his brother was still alive. He'd regained his senses a moment ago to see Luke pressing his gun into Don's head as he knelt on his chest. Luke now paced away as Charlie watched Don raise his knees and carefully roll onto his side before curling into a foetal position. His brother obviously needed time to recover. Charlie shook himself and with the aid of the wall made it to his feet. He staggered over to Don's side and knelt to look him over.

"Charlie, Charlie!" Their father's anxious voice called, dragging his attention away. "How is he?"

Charlie brushed his fingers over the red welt on Don's forehead. The injuries to his brother's ribs and stomach he couldn't see or do anything about. Don's eyes opened for a moment.

"Charlie." Don managed weakly but his breathing had improved with the change in position.

"Shh. Rest." Charlie told him. He looked up at his father. "He'll be okay, Dad." There were the sounds of sirens which grew abruptly louder then faded as they swept past the building. _Where were the police when you needed them?_ Another siren swept past, ignorant of the life and death drama above them on the fourth floor. He saw Luke glance out the window.

"Get Dad out of here." Don insisted.

"We can't leave you."

"Do it!" It came out weak but Charlie heard the steel behind it. "He wants me. I don't want him to take you guys too. Charlie, please."

"Touching." Luke sneered. His pacing had brought him back to stand over them and he had heard Don's plea. "You really want to die alone?"

"Let them go." The agent demanded. "I'll let you do whatever you want to me."

"You'll 'let me'?" Luke said incredulously. "I don't think you are in a position to stop me doing anything."

Don abruptly lashed his legs out, crying out at the pain it caused him, and caught Luke around the ankles. Luke was unprepared for the move and suddenly overbalanced falling to the floor. With the agility of a cat he rolled and was back up in an instant, gun held against the side of Alan's head.

"No!" Charlie yelled, leaping to his feet.

"Your son is trying to get you killed, old man." Luke growled. "Tell him to play nice or else you'll catch a bullet for him."

"Donny, you fight him. You hear me? Fight him all the way." Alan instructed.

Clearly displeased Luke raised his gun ready to bring it smashing down on Alan's head. Without realising what he was doing Charlie was suddenly there, hands clamped around Luke's raised wrist. They wrestled and fought over the gun, too far away for Don to help him with another kick even if he had been able. Untrained though he was in hand to hand combat Charlie almost made up for it with determination. He hung on to Luke's wrist, preventing him from bringing the gun down. They staggered back and forth but in the end training won out over determination. Luke kneed him twice to the ribs forcing him to loose his grip as he bent over. Charlie was just temporarily winded, the vest had absorbed most of the impact and protected his ribs. The gun now swung to bear on him.

"Which one do you want me to kill, old man?" Luke panted after his exertion. He kept one eye on the recovering professor and the other on the prone agent.

"Me." Don volunteered. Charlie saw him struggle to his knees and hold there with his arms clamped to his side and swaying. He did not look good at all, his face pale and sweaty. "Let them go and kill me."

"I'm getting sick of that." Luke warned. "You sound like a broken record."

"You're wasting time." His older brother continued stubbornly. Charlie knew it was difficult to shift Don from a path once he'd decided on it. "Time you could be spending on me."

"Don," Charlie started. For all that this was what Don wanted, he had to try. He had hoped Don would save the day but not like this, not at the cost of his own life. He couldn't let this happen.

"Shut up, Charlie." There was no anger in it, just determination to follow his chosen path.

"What's to stop me from just putting a bullet through your brain?" Luke demanded swinging the weapon to point at the kneeling agent.

"Nothing. But if that were all you wanted you would have done it long before now." Don's voice was rough and Charlie heard him panting in an effort to catch his breath after each sentence. His swaying was becoming more pronounced. "I thought you said you wanted me to suffer? They are a distraction."

"So perhaps I should just shoot them before we get down to business." The gun now swung back and forth between Charlie and Alan. Charlie quickly took up a position next to and slightly in front of their father, his hand now over one of his. Alan's strong fingers linked with his.

Don started to shake his head but froze and swayed alarmingly. He continued, "No. You want them to suffer as well, as you did. _After_ I'm dead. They have to live to do that."

"Dad, we have to help him." Charlie said urgently, his voice pitched so only his father could hear.

"We can't son." Alan's reply was sad and resigned. "There's nothing we can do."

Neither Luke nor Don had heard the quiet exchange. Luke seemed to be wavering as if the temptation offered by the agent was almost too strong to resist. Don was seemingly offering the very thing he had set out to obtain. "I can't just let them go, they'll lead your fed buddies straight to me."

"Then leave them here and take me away. I won't resist." Don suggested. "I will give you my word. You know my word is good."

Luke cast an appraising glance over the kneeling agent. Abruptly he stepped forward and shoved Don backwards watching as his victim fell. Charlie thought that he'd done it simply because he could. "You think you'll be up to that, Eppes?"

"I'll give you … what you want." Don gasped out after a few seconds.

Luke moved away, considering the offer. Charlie took the opportunity and went to his brother. Kneeling beside him he glanced back to see Luke was not at that moment watching them. This might be his last chance. Before he could change his mind Charlie reached out and took the magazine out of the holder on Don's belt. Don moved weakly as if to stop him but Charlie had already put his hands in the pocket on his jacket. On the second go he got the magazine around the right way and it slid home into the butt of the Glock with a faint click. He got his hands clear before Luke turned around.

"Sounds like a done deal." Luke decided. He stopped at Alan's chair and picked up the small explosive charge he'd put under the chair after returning from dropping Charlie back at CalSci. He once again placed it on Alan's chest. He held up the detonator showing a switch and a button under a slide cover. "I'm sure you know what this is." He flipped the switch. "It's armed." Luke then dropped the remote into his pocket before he approached his target, waving Charlie aside.

Charlie got up and moved away to stand next to Alan. He looked at the device but he was hardly a bomb tech and had no real idea what he was looking at. He wished Larry was here and then immediately changed his mind. Charlie didn't want anyone else to go through what they were going through. He turned back to see Luke roughly hauling Don to his feet. His brother gasped and tried unsuccessfully to hold back a cry of pain but stayed upright and conscious through sheer force of will.

The elevator chimed.

-11-1111-1100-10-11001-

The doors slid open on the fourth floor. Colby stepped forward just as boldly as he had on the preceding floors. It was hard, he really wanted to make a stealthy approach but pizza man was the way to go. He whistled a short tune as he stood for a moment in the corridor trying to get a feel for the area. The layout as per the blueprints was the same as the previous floors, frosted bare glass walls with closed doors leading off into various office spaces. He turned his attention to the left and realised that things were not quite the same. The door at the end of the corridor was open. There was no one within sight or earshot. He raised his radio and spoke softly.

"Open door, south end. Stand-by"

"_Received. At exit doors, standing-by."_ Megan's voice sounded reassuringly in his ear.

Colby made his confident way down the hall towards the open door. Colby stopped just prior to the office pretending to check a sheet of paper held on the top pizza box. He was concentrating on what he could hear, muffled voices and then a dull noise that sounded rather like a body hitting the floor. The supposedly up for lease and vacant office was occupied. He stepped into his role as he stepped through the door.

"Pizza, pizza! Best in LA." Colby announced loudly. "Double pepperoni and anchovy."

The outer office was deserted and devoid of furnishings. Colby's sharp eyes however picked out a reddish brown stain on the grey carpeting a couple of yards away. He gave two clicks on his radio, an agreed upon second stand-by signal. A third such or too long a delay without word and the teams would come charging in.

A man wearing a suit stepped out of a side office, pulling the door to behind him but it didn't close all the way. His right hand was planted firmly in his pocket. He looked at Colby in suspicion. "I didn't order a pizza."

"Yeah, well, whatever man. I'm here, the pizza's here and this is the fourth floor corner office. So what say you pay what you owe, dude, and I'm outta here." Colby swapped the boxes over to his left hand with a slight flourish. The end result was that the boxes were balanced over the closed fist that held his radio obscuring it from sight. His right hand was now free to access his weapon if necessary.

"I didn't order a pizza." The man was insistent.

"Look man, I ain't going back to my boss and telling him that ya stiffed me." Colby argued as he moved further in, trying to see through the partially closed doorway into the office the man had come from. He noted that the reddish brown stain sure looked like blood as he stepped over the blotches. There, an edge of a chair, a hand resting on the armrest. Disguising another slight shift in his position by a second flourish of the boxes he saw the side of a man's face. _Alan_, it was Alan tied to the chair. Colby's left hand twitched twice, the final signal.

"I don't care what you tell your boss, the pizzas…" The man trailed off at the sounds of two doors being smashed open from the hall.

"This is a delivery for Luke." Colby announced in an attempt to gain another precious second of time for the teams. He flung the two empty boxes at the man's face. Without any weight in them they didn't fly as far or as straight as he would have liked.

Luke froze for the barest moment at the mention of his name. His right arm lifted automatically to protect his face as Colby let fly but the boxes flew off angle and fell short, tumbling harmlessly to the floor.

Colby saw the small matchbox sized item held in the man's right hand and instantly recognised what it meant. There was no more time. Colby reached for his weapon as Luke started for the office. "Freeze, FBI!" The agent yelled. There were some answering yells and the pounding of feet from the corridor behind him.

Luke ignored the order and doubled his speed making it back into the office as Colby brought his weapon up. The door swung fully open and Colby could now see clearly into the room. Charlie was standing near the bound and seated Alan. Just off to the left Don was lying curled on the floor. All were staring back at the intruder. A glance was all that he could spare but he was able to determine that they were all alive but that was it, he had to keep his attention on Luke.

"Drop it!" Colby ordered, his aim now steadied.

"Back off or we all go up!" Luke raised the remote in his hand.

"Not gonna happen, Luke." Colby flicked his eyes towards the shape resting on Alan's chest. There were some wires and what looked like a receiver. He'd been around the whiz-kid too long, it all came down to numbers. _One remote, one bomb, three Eppes, one Colby and one bad dude_. Added to that were the fifteen rounds of hollow-point law enforcement ammunition in Colby's gun and that totalled …

Luke twitched and Colby reacted.

_Bang!_

_--_


	12. Chapter 12

**Numb3rs – Disarmed**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.

_CHAPTER TWELVE_

-100-1111-1110-

Another deafening gunshot in the enclosed space. This time it was not a blank and Don saw the result of the bullet hitting Luke in the right shoulder. The remote went flying through the air, the cover above the button that Luke had been starting to slide aside prompting Colby's shot was still in place and the box landed harmlessly across the room.

Luke took a step back in reflex and grabbed at his shoulder. Colby pressed forward brushing Luke's jacket aside to locate and remove the holstered pistol. The agent allowed Luke to back off further as he secured the weapon. Luke continued to back past Alan's chair and was off balance for a precious moment. Don watched in surprise as Charlie took the chance and stuck out a foot. Luke tripped and fell heavily to the carpet causing a slight smile of satisfaction to form on Don's face. _See how you like that!_ The agent thought vindictively.

There were sudden shouts and then there were heavily armed FBI agents at the door. David and Megan fought their way through the bottleneck and the inner office was starting to get a little crowded but Don was never so relieved to see his team. He struggled to sit up, clenching his teeth together but determined to get off the damned floor. Megan rushed to his side.

"Don!"

"Hey, Megan." With her help he made it upright. He was fast running out of strength. "Don't worry about me. … Get that bomb off Dad and … paramedics up here for him."

"They're on their way for both of you. Rest, Don."

"The remote." Don struggled for some more air. "Get the remote … disarm the bomb."

David retrieved the box and brought it over to his boss. He held it out not sure what to touch. Despite having some quick and dirty lessons in bomb disposal back in Israel he would rather use the bomber's equipment to disable a bomb instead of pulling wires from the bomb itself. The danger was in touching the wrong control.

"The switch."

David licked his lips and glanced at Alan. Receiving a nod he flipped the switch and was relieved when nothing went 'boom'. He pulled the device from Alan's chest and the way was suddenly clear for him to walk gingerly from the room through agents that rapidly backed away. David disappeared outside.

Colby holstered his weapon and pulled out a pocket knife. He cleanly sliced through the plastic ties holding Alan to the chair. Alan made no move to get up, instead rubbed at his wrists. He looked first to Don then turned quickly to find Charlie in response to a loud metallic sound. He tensed.

Don had also heard and recognised the sound, looking to his younger brother in fear then shock. Luke had regained his feet and Charlie was standing in an unnaturally stiff pose before him. Don realised why an instant later. Charlie was holding his Glock, the weapon aimed at Luke's head. The metallic sound had been Charlie completing the loading process by racking the slide and forcing a round into the chamber. The Glock was now ready to fire. There were no external safeties to disengage, a simple pull on the trigger and that would be it.

A collective gasp went around the room as agents raised weapons that had moments before been lowered, pointing them in Charlie's general direction. The math professor was now the armed threat.

His injuries forgotten Don made it, somehow, to his feet. He placed himself between the agents and his brother. No one was going to point a weapon at Charlie if he had anything to say about it. At his glare Megan signalled and the weapons were lowered halfway, ready to be lifted again if necessary.

"Charlie," Don started. He tried to clear his throat, somewhat alarmed at how weak his voice sounded. "What are you doing?"

"He's not going to hurt us any more."

"No, he won't." Don said as reassuringly as he could. He staggered put stayed vertical moving around so that he could face his brother. He made sure that he left enough room between himself and Luke so that the other would not be tempted to attack him. "Put the gun down."

Charlie shook his head and directed his next command at Luke. "Down!" Charlie growled, jerking the gun downwards slightly in emphasis.

Luke lowered himself to his knees seemingly resigned to his fate. Weapons held by agents started to rise.

"Charlie, no."

"I have to."

"Dad, tell him." Don appealed to their father, still seated in the chair. "Make him put the gun down."

"No, Don." Alan said firmly after a moment's contemplation of the kneeling man and his youngest son. "It's his decision. He has to decide what to do."

Don couldn't believe what his father had just said. It was up to him. As much as he wanted Luke dead, _that feeling was very strong_, he would not allow Charlie to have this stain on his soul. That desire to spare Charlie that was much, much stronger. "Charlie, please. Don't do this. He's not worth it." Don begged. "I know what you're thinking."

"How could you possibly know?"

"I've been here before, buddy. I know."

"What?"

"I had Telson, just as you have Luke now." Don promised himself that he could breathe later. For now he had to get the words out. "I could have killed him. I had just cause, as you do. I didn't do it and it took me a long time to come to terms with that."

"You should have."

Don was shocked at his brother's tone. "No, Charlie. I made the right decision. What I found hard to come to terms with was the fact that I almost committed murder."

"It's not murder! You know what he did to Dad. What he just did to you."

"I know." Don grimaced. He was barely keeping to his feet and the edges of his vision were growing darker as he went further into oxygen debt. Wishing the floor would stop undulating he took as deep a breath as he dared and drove himself on. "If you kill him he gets away easy while you spend the rest of your life paying for it. Dad needs you, buddy. I need you."

"But he made me…" Charlie faltered, the Glock wavered and dropped slightly. "You thought I…"

"I forgive you Charlie." The gun dropped further.

"You did what you had to do, Charlie." Alan finally contributed.

"He hurt you!"

"That's in the past. We have the future ahead of us now."

Don eased closer again. "Charlie, he needs to be punished. Let the law punish him. You do this and he will destroy you. He'll destroy us. He will win."

"No." Charlie lowered the gun. "No. I won't let him."

Don reached out his manacled hands and took back his weapon. He backed away as Colby and another agent rushed in belatedly to secure the prisoner. Charlie stood watching, his face devoid of emotion. Don staggered away a few more paces before his legs gave out. Through the dark tunnel that remained of his vision he saw Megan rushing towards him but knew she wouldn't make it in time. With his last conscious thought he opened his hand and allowed his gun to fall independently. After all he'd been through, after all they'd been through, he wasn't going to accidentally shoot himself. The floor with the tasteful grey on grey carpet came up all too fast.

Mercifully there was no pain. There was nothing at all.

-1101-101-111-1-1110-

"Agent down!" Megan called urgently over her radio, addressing the agents left in the garage. "Agent Jens, get the paramedics up here, fourth floor." _Where were they?_

"_Received."_ The voice in her earpiece acknowledged instantly.

"Donny!" Alan called out. He made it up from the chair and basically fell to his knees beside his eldest son. Charlie, roused from his stupor pushed Megan out of the way on Don's other side.

Don didn't move.

"Donny!" Alan called again, gently tapping Don's face.

"What's wrong with him?" Megan demanded of Charlie, pushing her way in to where she could put her fingers on Don's neck feeling for his pulse. She saw the nasty bruises and the welt on his face and had heard his difficulty breathing as he'd talked Charlie down. His skin was cold and clammy under her hand.

"Ribs." Charlie finally responded. "He was kicked and knelt on. He was hit in the head as well."

Megan glared at the secured prisoner. Don was handcuffed and helpless and had still been beaten. "Get him out of here." She ordered Colby, Luke shouldn't be treated to seeing the effect of his handiwork. "Call another ambulance for him." The first two were already earmarked.

Colby and another agent dragged Luke to his feet and pulled him from the office. She reached for her keys and pushed Charlie back slightly. A few seconds quick work and Don was free of the cuffs, his wrists red and swollen. Those were the least of his injuries. At least he was breathing regularly, if shallowly, and wasn't in pain for the moment.

There was a sudden groan but it didn't come from Don, it came from Alan. She leapt across Don to reach Alan in time to lower him gently to the floor. His face had drained of blood but he was still conscious as she rolled him onto his side making sure he was facing his son. "Alan? Stay with me okay? Can you tell me what Luke did to you?"

"Pain." Charlie supplied. Megan looked up to see Charlie was holding one of Don's hands. "Luke hurt him."

Megan looked the older man over quickly, seeing the bruises and realising as Don had what their placement meant. "You'll be okay. Those points are painful but it's nothing permanent. Did he do anything else to you?" She wanted to get the information in case he also lapsed into unconsciousness. It was looking more and more likely, he was near the point of collapse.

"Head." Alan managed.

Megan had seen the bruise. She listened to Jens reporting in her earpiece. "Send them all up, two patients." She ordered into her radio.

"_Received."_

"Alright. Paramedics are on their way up. Stay with me. You hear me?"

"Donny?" Alan asked.

"We'll look after him. Try not to worry." Yeah, right. _Might as well try to tell the tide not to turn_, Megan thought. "We'll get you both to hospital."

"Charlie?" The older man asked.

"I'm okay, Dad." Charlie sounded guilty. "He didn't hurt me. I'm fine."

Megan knew what that sounded like. Survivor guilt. Don and Alan were hurt but he wasn't. At least it didn't seem that way, she would get him looked at as well. But for now: "Charlie, they'll both be okay. They will both need you. You did everything you could." The last was on faith alone, she knew he had been forced well out of character today but it had been to help his family. He would do anything for them, just as Don and their father would do if the situation were reversed.

"It's all my fault. I'm sorry, Dad."

"No, Charlie. You did good." Alan said, sounding stronger now that he was stable on his side. "I'm proud of you."

"That's what he said." Charlie said sorrowfully looking at Don. "Before … He let me do it, he let me bring him here knowing what was going to happen."

Megan reached out and put a hand on the math professor's shoulder. "You had no choice, Charlie. You did what you had to do to keep your father safe. Don knows that. He could have stopped you but he went with you when he knew the stakes. You can't blame yourself for what happened. None of this was your fault."

"But I should have," Charlie started then stopped. "Those people at CalSci, I-"

"Charlie." Megan interrupted firmly. "We'll sort that out later."

She knew that not far down the track he would have to be interviewed and the matter presented to the DA's office for evaluation. They didn't have the full story yet, far from it, but when they did she was confident Charlie would be cleared as acting under duress. He'd committed some major felonies but none of the crimes were beyond the level where defence-of-others could be used to protect him against indictment. Her statement and the statements of the other FBI agents who had seen Alan bound to the chair with a bomb on his chest along with his injuries would assist Charlie's case.

The elevator chimed and there were the sounds of running feet along with some metallic clattering sounds from gurneys. A few moments later four paramedics carrying bags entered the room leaving the gurneys in the outer office. Megan scrambled out of the way so that they could work. Charlie resisted being pushed aside but Megan pulled at him and he realised that the paramedics needed space. He reluctantly allowed himself to be moved away. Megan knew better than to try to take him from the room. He needed to be with his family.

They watched as initially the paramedics split two to a patient but soon three were working on Don as the fourth checked Alan. The three worked quickly and one raced out a minute later to drag in a gurney. They got Don settled in place and two headed out. Don's condition was severe enough that they couldn't delay too long once they'd ensured he was stable enough to move. Charlie made to follow but Megan was able to hold him back. "They need room to work, Charlie. Don't worry, we'll get you to the hospital to see him."

"_Agent Reeves."_

She toggled her radio. "Reeves."

"_I've got some LAPD detectives and a Sergeant Markham down here."_ Jens reported. _"They're here for Charlie."_

--


	13. Chapter 13

**Numb3rs – Disarmed**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.

_CHAPTER THIRTEEN_

-1101-101-111-1-1110-

_Damn_. No time left. Megan knew there was going to be a jurisdictional contest over this. Charlie had committed offences governed by the LAPD and had also committed a set of federal offences when he assaulted and kidnapped a Federal Agent. She doubted that Don would press charges but with him unconscious they could proceed as if he were. But they didn't quite have equal claim, the balance unfortunately was swinging towards the LAPD for now. She wanted to prevent the LAPD from taking Charlie anyway and had been intending to temporarily get around the issue by getting Charlie out of the building and off to the hospital before the LAPD got here. It was too late now. "Send them up." She released the transmit button and raised her voice. "David, get in here!"

David entered the office. He'd been outside, not wanting to crowd the room and get in the way of the paramedics. "I've put the device down the far end of the hall and have bomb disposal on the way." He reported.

"Good." Megan turned to Charlie finding that he was back at Alan's side. Pulling him to his feet she moved him with some resistance away from Alan. One of the paramedics went to retrieve the gurney, bringing it into the office. "Charlie, one hundred words or less. What happened? What is this all about?" Her voice was sharp to penetrate his haze.

"Megan, I-"

"Charlie, now. LAPD are coming up here to arrest you."

Charlie got a little wild around the eyes at that. If LAPD took him he wouldn't get to see Don or his father for some time. "Luke kidnapped Dad and then me. He tortured Dad to make me threaten those people at CalSci. I had to get Don and bring him here."

"Who is Luke? Why did he make you do this?"

"Luke wanted to get back at Don for getting his brother killed last year." At Megan's frown Charlie elaborated. "Luke's brother was one of the men that kidnapped Don from the hotel after they shot the informant he was protecting. Luke's brother was found dead the next day."

The informant's name was Hendrik, Megan remembered now. But they were the same people that…

"Luke worked for Telson."

That clinched it. Megan could take this whole matter legally out of the LAPD's hands. The next part was difficult but they had their duty. "Charlie, David's going to handcuff you now. Don't panic, he'll take you to the hospital but you are in our custody. Understand?"

The elevator chose that moment to chime and Charlie didn't argue. He started pulling at the Velcro tabs on the Kevlar vest to take it off.

Megan had to go out to meet the LAPD detectives in the outer office. She saw David waiting with the cuffs and stopped. "High risk offender." She reminded him. Megan didn't like the idea of having to have Charlie placed in cuffs but if this were any other offender they wouldn't have hesitated. As he'd been armed during the course of his offences he was to be handcuffed to the rear, not in front. It was going to be uncomfortable for him to be transported that way but they needed to play by the rules, especially if she was going to get him past the LAPD without them raising allegations of special treatment. "Read him his rights. When you're ready bring him out and take him straight to the hospital. Get a doctor to look at him while you're there."

David nodded, understanding both the instructions and the reasoning behind them. He turned back to watch Charlie take off the jacket as Megan left the inner office. He would have to search the math professor before handcuffing him to ensure he was well and truly disarmed now. Pulling out Don's gun and what followed had been a big surprise. He'd seen the end of the tense standoff from the outer office.

"Agent Reeves." Sergeant Markham greeted her. "These are Detectives Norton and Hickman."

"Detectives." Megan replied, her tone a little cool.

"We understand you have our primary offender in custody?" Norton asked. "We saw his accomplice downstairs."

"That's the primary offender, not an accomplice. But yes, we have Professor Eppes in custody. We're about to transport him now."

"He's our prisoner." Hickman said.

Just as Megan had suspected, this was turning into a turf war. She was glad she had a lawful reason to keep Charlie in her custody, she doubted the detectives would have let the FBI take Charlie out of professional curtesy. "No, he's not."

"Agent, I understand that you have a personal stake in this. He's your supervisor's brother." Markham stated. "I let you talk me into playing this your way because he'd taken your supervisor hostage. I let you use your resources to resolve the situation but this is not an FBI matter any more. You've got your supervisor back. We had a hostage barricade situation with five civilian hostages. That makes him ours. You can have him when we're done."

"Sorry, but no." Megan then explained. "Leaving aside the attack on a Federal Agent, this is still ours. The man you saw downstairs was one of the terrorists from the North LA Mall incident at Christmas. He along with some others escaped the roundup. He's surfaced again now and was behind this whole incident this afternoon."

"Then it's not yours either. You had one of your bosses go bad if I remember correctly." Norton commented snidely.

That earned the man a curled lip. The fact that one of the FBI's highest ranking agents had turned traitor was going to haunt the agency for years. It had already been used against the Bureau in other disputes over jurisdiction and would be again. Unfortunately he was right on his first point however. The FBI had been forced to step aside as the lead agency on the terrorism investigation. Megan had no choice. "True. I'm calling the DHS once we're done here."

The LAPD officers' attention was suddenly diverted to the doorway behind Megan. She turned slightly to see David pushing a handcuffed Charlie out ahead of him, a firm grip on his arm. They were followed by the paramedics with Alan on the gurney. David pulled Charlie to one side and allowed the paramedics to head out to the elevator first. An injured person had precedence over a prisoner. Charlie watched his father being wheeled away in distress, he wanted to go with him but couldn't.

Detective Norton went up to Charlie. "Professor Charles Eppes, I'm arresting you-"

"He's already under arrest." Megan interrupted. "Our holding period exceeds yours."

Norton was not happy. "He is our prisoner, not yours. Until the DHS get here we want him."

"No. Agent Sinclair, take our prisoner away." Megan ordered. David moved. Once they were out in the hall she turned back to Norton. She knew that they would get access to Charlie eventually. "When you do get your turn, go easy. He's had his father tortured and just watched his brother get beaten half to death in front of him."

Norton and Hickman ignored the comment and made as if to join David and his prisoner out in the hall. Markham hung back slightly, keeping somewhat of a low profile now after his initial argument. He had some culpability for allowing the FBI to get this far involved in the first place. He was sure to cop some heat but she couldn't spare him much sympathy for the moment. Megan stepped into the path of the two detectives as the chime sounded from the hall. "Wait for the next elevator."

"We'll be taking this further, Agent Reeves." Norton warned.

"Do that." Megan fired back confidently. She pulled her card out of her pocket and wrote a number on the back. "That's the Assistant Director in Charge. Give him a call."

As they left she reached for her cell, she needed to give ADIC Merrick a SITREP and a heads up. She rolled her head to loosen up her tense neck, it was definitely time to go home but that wasn't going to happen any time soon. There was still so much they didn't know. She was basing a lot on the 'hundred words or less' she'd demanded from Charlie, a terse radio call from Don and some scraps of paper. Megan managed to squeeze a sigh in before the call was answered.

"_Merrick."_

-11-1000-1-10010-1100-1001-101-

Charlie sat twisted sideways in the back of David's sedan as they followed the ambulance to the hospital. The cuffs were painful, digging into his back and aggravating the wounds on his wrists no matter what position he tried to put himself in. He understood why Megan had made David cuff him however, as Don had told him earlier he'd been around the FBI long enough to know how things worked. It had only been a matter of time before his formal arrest. Until he was cleared he was a suspect for some heavy duty crimes, state and federal. The sooner he could be debriefed the better but he didn't care about that. Despite having no leverage however he was determined to resist that until he saw his father and brother. Fortunately Megan seemed to know what he was thinking and had ordered David to take him to the hospital first. He was also very grateful that she'd stood up to the LAPD and refused to let them take him. He figured that wouldn't hold for long however. It didn't cross his mind that this was bigger than either the LAPD or FBI and would be handed to the DHS. He hadn't heard that exchange. He squirmed again.

"You alright Charlie?" David asked sounding concerned.

"I never realised how uncomfortable these things were." Charlie found David's eyes on him through the rear view mirror.

"Yeah. Sorry about that."

"You do what you have to do David. I understand." Charlie checked on the progress of the ambulance carrying his father. "Thanks for taking me to the hospital."

"Charlie, we know you're not the bad guy here."

Charlie had his doubts. He thought of Luke and realised that he felt no guilt for having held a gun to the man's head. The lack of that emotion worried him. He was not a gun person, he understood that they were a necessary evil in Don's line of work but still loathed them. Yet it had come so easily, loading Don's gun and aiming it. He'd had every intention of firing. Perhaps the previous couple of hours toting a gun he'd thought was loaded and holding it on his older brother had changed him. He had almost killed a man without remorse. Don had talked him out of it and Charlie found himself somewhat ambivalent about that. He figured it was going to hit him later. He hoped it would, if it didn't it would mean that there was something wrong with him.

The siren ahead of them cut off and they turned abruptly. They'd reached the hospital. David followed the ambulance up the ramp to the ER entry. He parked in one of the spots reserved for police vehicles and helped Charlie out of the back seat. By the time they approached the sliding doors his father was already inside somewhere. David stopped at the sealed doors and pressed the intercom button. The ambulance officers had a code for the door, David had to hold up his badge at the camera before the doors were buzzed open. David's hand on his arm guided him towards the reception desk, a smaller version of that he'd seen before in the public entrance to emergency rooms at hospitals.

David flashed his badge again. "FBI. I have a prisoner to be examined."

The nurse looked at the prisoner with only a slight degree of interest. "Name?"

"Charles Edward Eppes. September 5, 1975." Charlie supplied.

"What sort of examination? Physical or mental?"

"Physical."

The nurse consulted a whiteboard. "Take him to number nine. The doctor will be by shortly."

Charlie saw the look that passed over David's face, that he doubted the nurse's version of 'shortly' was the dictionary definition. David started to pull him away. Charlie dug in his heels and tried to hang back. "What about Dad and Don?"

David glanced at him for a moment then turned back to the nurse. "There were two emergency patients brought in, Alan Eppes just a few minutes ago and Special Agent Don Eppes before that. Do you have anything on their condition yet?"

That got a little more interest from the nurse. It was unusual that the prisoner would demand information and that the arresting officer or agent in this case, would follow through and attempt to obtain it. The names were all the same as well. She tapped at the computer. "They're both here. Don Eppes is in X-ray, condition listed as serious pending full diagnosis. Alan Eppes is in consult, er." She stopped and looked at David, not sure if she should continue in front of his prisoner. The victim and prisoner would be in close proximity to each other.

David nodded and got the room number, twelve. Charlie let David pull him away. They reached consult nine but Charlie tried to keep walking, heading towards number twelve. Now it was David that resisted.

"Please, David."

David looked around. It would be a while before the doctor was likely to show and there were no LAPD around that he needed to put on a show for. He had to keep a hold of his prisoner however, someone in handcuffs wandering loose around an ER would quickly cause alarm. "Alright, but just for a minute. They need to examine him."

"Thank-you." Charlie virtually towed David to the curtained alcove. He stopped helplessly, unable to pull the fabric aside to find his way in.

David pulled the curtain open but prevented Charlie from going any further. A nurse and a doctor were already at work checking Alan over. Obviously his age and the nature of the situation earned him rapid attention.

The doctor turned at the sound the curtain made and looked at them curiously before frowning. "Is this some new policy I'm not aware of, Detective? Bringing the perpetrator to check on the welfare of his victim?" He sounded less than impressed.

"Agent." David corrected, once again pulling out his badge. He glanced at Charlie then back to the doctor. "This is a special case. I can't go into the details but that man is his father and he needs to see him."

The doctor didn't seem convinced, moving to block Charlie's view of his patient. "Whatever. Is he here for an examination?"

"Yeah."

"What are the injuries?"

"Wrists for starters." David had seen the welts on Charlie's wrists as he'd cuffed him.

"Then take him back to your consult room and wait for me." The doctor ordered.

"Charlie?" Alan queried, his voice weak. He couldn't see past the doctor or nurse but had roused at the voices.

"Dad!" Charlie tried to pull free from David but failed. "Dad, I'm here."

"Get him out of here." The doctor ordered again. "Or do I need to call security?"

"No, Doc. I got it." David yanked Charlie back out and back to their assigned room.

--


	14. Chapter 14

**Numb3rs – Disarmed**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.

_A/N: The doctor has copped some flack from the last chapter. He has limited information and has based his attitude on the assumption that Charlie in handcuffs was responsible for harming his own family. As a result the doctor feels a certain lack of sympathy towards the perceived offender. As to the LAPD, they are simply trying to get their job done and are prepared to fight to get their offender on behalf of the victims. I guess it came off a bit strong on both fronts._

_CHAPTER FOURTEEN_

-11-1000-1-10010-1100-1001-101-

It felt like he'd been sitting there for ages. The remains of the cup of tea in front of him had long since gone cold. As had the untouched slices of pizza they'd brought him for dinner. He hadn't felt up to eating but had managed most of the tea.

Charlie fidgeted with the light bandages around his wrists. The doctor had treated him somewhat perfunctorily, upset at what he'd perceived Charlie had done to his own family. David hadn't been able to tell the doctor the whole story, not only would it be classified he just didn't know it, so they had kept silent and let the doctor work. The treatment had not been lacking medically speaking hence the bandages to help protect his already raw wrists against the chafing from the handcuffs. They'd come off for the treatment and were off again now that he was in an interrogation room back at the FBI Field Office. He left the bandages in place however, expecting the handcuffs to go back on at some point.

Finally he couldn't take the waiting any longer and went to the door. He wasn't foolish enough to try to open the unlocked door, instead tapping on the glass to gain the attention of the agent standing guard on the other side. The agent turned and Charlie waved at her before moving back to his chair.

The door opened and she leaned in. "Yes, Professor?"

"Is Agent Reeves back yet?"

"Yes she is."

"Can I speak to her please?"

The young agent looked at him with some sympathy, although she'd not long been assigned to the office she knew who he was. "I'll call her." She stepped back outside allowing the door to close.

Charlie watched as she used her cell to call Megan, taking her job seriously and not moving the extra few yards to use a phone on the nearest desk. The young agent spoke for a few seconds then turned and gave him a thumbs-up gesture. Megan would come and see him.

Minutes passed then Megan came bearing two steaming cups of tea. She put one on the desk in front of him as she sat opposite. It pained him slightly to have watched her put her weapon in the safe outside the door, not bringing it into the same room as him. She really was doing this by the book. On the other hand, several hours ago she'd seen him almost shoot a man so it was reasonable that she would take due precautions.

Charlie took a grateful swallow of the tea. He didn't realise how much he needed it until the hot liquid slid down his throat and warmed his stomach. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, Charlie." She drank some of her own. "I can take a break here as easily as at my desk. Sorry I haven't been to see you sooner but it is a bit hectic at the moment."

Charlie could understand that. It would be why no one had spoken to him yet. "Have you heard from the hospital?" David had not pushed the issue after the altercation with the doctor so he'd had no further update since their arrival at the ER. That was what had made the wait unbearable.

"Your dad is fine. They are a bit worried about his blood pressure and will keep him overnight for observation." She took another sip before she went on. "Don is still listed as serious but is stable. They expect to upgrade his condition by morning. You want the list?"

He nodded and braced himself.

"He has a couple of broken ribs, some cracked ribs, a suspected hairline fracture to the skull with mild concussion and severe bruising to his abdomen. He'll be staying a few days but will be okay. He was lucky; the doctors say it could have been a lot worse."

Charlie knew that. When Luke had knelt on his brother's chest he could easily have driven a rib into his lung or somewhere more vital. "Has he woken up?"

"Just for a few minutes. He knows you and your father are okay."

"Have you got anyone watching him? Luke might have some friends." Charlie asked worriedly.

"I got someone on him and Alan. They are in the same room actually. They're safe."

He sat back in relief. That was all that really mattered. They were safe, Don had come through once again, delaying Luke until Colby and the others had arrived. "What happens now?"

"Someone will be talking to you shortly about Luke." She glanced at her watch. "He'll be here in a minute or two. Don't worry, it will work out."

He shook his head. He wasn't so sure about that. "This is pretty heavy duty, Megan. What I did…"

"What he made you do, Charlie. Don't forget that. You didn't choose this, you were forced. That makes a world of difference."

He digested that for a moment. "Is everyone else okay?"

Megan understand exactly what he meant. "I haven't spoken to the LAPD or to the hostages from CalSci. I'll chase it up when I can and let you know." She stood, picking up the old cup of tea and the plate with his cold dinner on it. "I have to go now, but I'll be back."

Charlie watched her leave. He drained the last of the tea and finally allowed himself the luxury of pillowing his head with his arms on the table. He hadn't realised how exhausted he really was until the relief of knowing that his father and brother would be okay washed over him. Making himself as comfortable as he could he allowed his eyes to close. Everything that happened at this point was out of his hands anyway.

"Professor Eppes?" The hand on his shoulder shook him gently. Charlie sat up, rubbing at his eyes. The voice had sounded familiar, but did not belong to an FBI agent.

Charlie blinked and looked at the man that was just now sitting down across from him. He really should have expected this. He'd had Don in his sights before and now it was Charlie's turn. "Agent Barnathan."

"You remember me."

"How could I forget?" Charlie had last seen Barnathan over in one of the conference rooms just after Don had revealed the true story behind the mall bombing at Christmas. Just before Barnathan had given permission for another Department of Homeland Security agent to do anything to protect their plan of attack, even if it meant shooting Don. Speaking of which, "Where is Wachowski?"

"He's just finishing up at the hospital."

Charlie was not happy at that news, not one bit. He started to protest but stopped himself. The real person he was angry at was sitting right across from him, Wachowski had just been following orders.

"I know we have some bad blood between us," Barnathan started interpreting the look. "But your brother and I are on the same side."

He knew that Don and Barnathan had parted on reasonable terms after their last contact. Barnathan had interviewed Don just after they'd had their brush with the real terrorist, Zuheen. Charlie thought himself fortunate to have been debriefed by Megan allowing him to keep his distance from the DHS agents. He grudgingly nodded. It really made no difference what his opinion of the DHS agent was.

"You've spoken to my brother and father?"

"Your father mainly, Agent Eppes is not up to it at the moment." Barnathan saw the look of alarm that passed over his features. "I know Agent Reeves has apprised you of their condition. There is no change from that. Agent Eppes is resting and should be able to speak with us in the morning."

He watched as Barnathan opened his folder, flipping through several pages of notes until reaching a blank page. "So it's time for my version." Charlie acknowledged. The interrogation had started. He looked around at the cameras and audio pickups in the room. He'd been on the opposite side of the equipment often enough to know it was always running when someone was in the room. He glanced at the one-way mirror wondering who might be watching from concealment.

"I understand you've been read your rights?"

"Yes. But I know that only relates to the civil charges. We're talking about a terrorist here. I know the rules are different."

"They are." Barnathan confirmed.

"I'll tell you everything you want to know. I am aware that I have no choice so everything I say is under duress and protest." Charlie added formally. He did have a choice to remain silent but that would earn him an indefinite stay in custody. By adding the 'duress and protest' rider he was protecting himself from the civil charges. By talking to Barnathan on the record but under duress his confession was unable to be used by the LAPD for their case. Charlie had every intention of engaging a lawyer before he spoke to the detectives about what he'd done at CalSci.

"Understood." Barnathan made a notation on his pad. "Let's start at the beginning."

Charlie took a deep breath and closed his eyes to compose his thoughts. It seemed like so long ago when Luke had walked into his office at CalSci. He started talking.

-100-1111-1110-

Don became aware of voices to his right. He was also lying on something comfortable for a change and not the damned floor. He sighed before he remembered his ribs. Surprisingly however it didn't hurt as much to breathe anymore. He took a few more breaths, revelling in the ability. He felt something uncomfortable under his nose and a cool draft allowing him to realise exactly where he was. He was in hospital, on a bed with a nasal cannula delivering much welcomed oxygen. The voices intruded as he woke further and he eventually opened his eyes.

The muted light above his bed was the first thing he saw. He cautiously moved his head to the right, again his injuries on the left side of his face didn't hurt as much as he expected. He felt the itch in the back of his left hand and figured he was getting some pain relief via the IV. His mind was a little fuzzy and there was the definite sensation of floating but nothing he hadn't dealt with before. He concentrated and brought the next bed over into semi-sharp focus.

"Dad?"

The figure on the brightly lit bed turned and sat up further. "Donny." Alan started patting at the sheets on his right, trying to find something. "How are you feeling?"

Don took another few seconds to take stock. "Like 've been 'n fight." He slurred, it was like being drunk.

"Damn call button." His father muttered. "Where is it?"

"Here, Mr Eppes."

"Thanks, Ben." Alan pressed the offered button and allowed it to drop in amongst the sheets again.

"Wachowski." Don acknowledged after more squinting to see the standing man's face clearly. It came out more like 'Wershowshi' but the other agent knew what he meant.

"Agent Eppes." The young DHS agent stepped away from Alan's bed and came to stand beside him. "We were told to call the doctor when you woke up."

He had a vague recollection that he'd woken earlier as nurses were fussing over him after he'd been moved into the room. He tried to concentrate against the pull of the medication. "What're you doin' here?"

"We needed your father's statement as soon as possible." Ben Wachowski explained.

"Dad?"

"I'm alright, son." Alan tried to reassure him. "I told them what happened, why Charlie did what he did."

"Them?" The agent tried to peer around the room but didn't see anyone else. There was a shadow outside the door, obviously a guard for which Don was thankful.

"Agent Barnathan was in earlier." Wachowski supplied.

Don closed his eyes and sighed. He was not surprised. Barnathan and Wachowski had spent the last few months in LA trying to finalise the investigation into the activities of both Ryder and Telson. They had also been trying to track Zuheen's movements after his appearance at CalSci and ascertain whether or not a terrorist cell had been left behind in LA. "Where's he now?"

"He's gone to interview your brother, Professor Eppes."

"'s he alright? I wan' see him." Don tried to lever himself upwards but failed.

"Donny," Alan warned in his best protective-father tone. "You have to rest."

"Wha' happened? He shot…" All of a sudden the image of Charlie holding his gun on their tormentor sprang into his mind. That helped to get around the effects of the medication somewhat. _He got the gun away in time, hadn't he?_ He thought he had, but everything was a bit vague at the moment due to the medication.

"He didn't, Don. Luke is in custody." Alan hesitated a moment. "So is Charlie."

"Yeah." The agent knew the procedure, knew what had to happen to his younger brother. He also knew that Barnathan was just one part of that.

"From what your father told us he has nothing to worry about." Wachowski said. "He has a defence for his actions."

"DA?" _They'd spoken to him already?_

"There's been no submission as yet. LAPD are still interviewing the hostages and Agent Barnathan should just be starting with Professor Eppes. We are moving as quickly as we can but your brother will be held for a while yet."

"See him." Don repeated.

"I'm afraid there will be no other visitors this evening, Agent Eppes." A middle aged woman said coming through the door. Her protective and authoritative demeanour as much as the stethoscope around her neck proclaimed her to be a doctor. She indicated the standing man. "If I had my way he wouldn't be in here either."

He'd spent more than enough quality time with Wachowski in the past but for the moment, "Tha's okay. Don' mind"

The doctor's expression indicated that she did. She pulled the chart off the end of his bed and flipped it open as she pressed a control above the headboard brightening the light. She read through the last couple of hours of observations. "Doesn't look too bad. How are you feeling?"

He raised his left hand slightly. "Whatever 's stuff is, works."

"Don't get too used to it. That's just for tonight, you need some sleep. Tomorrow you'll be on lighter strength pain relief."

"Figured 's much." He'd been through this before, more times than he'd admitted to his family. "See m' brother."

"Sorry, Agent." The doctor didn't sound too sorry. "No one else. And you have outstayed your welcome." The last was directed at the DHS agent.

Wachowski nodded. "Agent Eppes, I'll see what we can do in the morning."

Don managed something incoherent in thanks as he lost the fight with the meds. He knew Wachowski was under no obligation to make the offer. Charlie was in custody and that was … Sleep claimed him.

--


	15. Chapter 15

**Numb3rs – Disarmed**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.

_A/N: We are nearly all done..._

_CHAPTER FIFTEEN_

-11-1000-1-10010-1100-1001-101-

Escorted by Barnathan and Wachowski Charlie walked into the hospital room past the FBI agent standing guard. It was very early in the morning, the hospital staff just making the breakfast rounds. There were still a few hours to go before visiting hours. For him though it felt like it was already quite late, he'd been awake since this time yesterday. On entering the room Charlie first saw that his father was sleeping peacefully in the bed closest the door. The other bed was occupied by Don. He was surprised to see him lying with his head turned towards the door, eyes open and watching him.

"Hey, Don." He said softly and a little hesitantly. Despite Don's apparent forgiveness yesterday he wasn't too sure how this was going to go. Rehashing everything for the DHS over the last few hours had brought home just how badly he'd betrayed his brother, delivering Don into the hands of his would be murderer.

"Hey, yourself." His brother's voice was sleepy and a little slurred. "How're you doin' buddy?"

He moved forward until he was standing next to the bed, noting the IV drip and the nasal cannula. He saw the various multicoloured bruises that covered most of one side of Don's face. The rest of his brother was covered in a light blanket sparing him the view of the bruises that had to be on the older man's torso. _Despite his own injuries, Don was worried about him_. Charlie shook his head. "How am I doing? How are you?"

"'m fine."

"You don't look it."

"Alive." Don answered, his voice strengthening and the slurring disappearing. "All of us are alive."

"There is that." Reluctantly he had to agree. Considering the alternative, what had nearly happened, Don was plenty fine. They all were.

"Charlie, I don't blame you." Don said at his tone. "Nothing that happened was your fault. Remember that."

He was still forgiven. Charlie let out a tired breath in relief, reaching out a hand and covering Don's.

His brother's gaze shifted to the men standing behind him, Barnathan and Wachowski. "I see you've made new friends."

"Something like that."

"They give you a hard time?" Don was fully awake now. Don frowned and tried to sit up, preparing to go into battle again for him. Charlie moved his hand to apply the lightest of pressure against his shoulder. It gave him some cause for concern at how easily Don subsided at that touch.

"No, no. Actually the opposite." They'd been nothing but courteous towards him. During the night he'd revised his opinion of them somewhat. They were doing their jobs. Whilst he might not agree with what happened months ago, especially the way they'd treated Don, he found he could understand it. "I've told Agent Barnathan everything that happened. He thinks it will all work out." The last was hopeful.

"What about the LAPD?"

Barnathan stepped forward to stand at the foot of the bed. "Morning, Agent Eppes. Doctor Eppes is still under our care. LAPD won't get to speak with him until tomorrow, if at all."

Don's eyes narrowed at the word 'care'. His gaze shifted to Charlie's lightly bandaged but free wrists before looking up at him. "Not in custody?"

"Not really."

"What Doctor Eppes means is that he is no longer under arrest by the DHS." Barnathan explained. "At the moment we're holding him as a material witness. But there are also pending federal matters which are helping to keep him away from the LAPD for now."

"Federal matters?"

"His assault on you."

"Not pressing charges against Charlie." Don said firmly. "No way."

"We figured that would be your decision. But there is time to formalise that later. You have yet to be debriefed by your people and Charlie has had a long night. Some rest for him would be in order."

"Yeah. You get any sleep, Chuck?"

"No." Charlie's few minutes with his head on his arms in the interrogation room didn't count.

"He wanted to come and see you so we brought him with us this morning. He can get some sleep when we finish up." Barnathan continued. "We need to get a statement from you as soon as possible. Feel up to it?"

"Yeah, but I've been on some heavy drugs. Not going to be admissible." Don waved his left hand slightly.

Charlie looked at the indicated IV bag and saw it was nearly full and contained a saline/glucose mix. Whatever his brother had been on had run out. On the way in they'd stopped by the desk and had spoken to the doctor. She'd said that they'd taken Don off the IV drugs and were going to give him lighter medication during the day. His older brother certainly seemed to be with it as she'd promised but in the eyes of the law he would still be regarded as being under the influence of medication.

"Ran out about half an hour ago." Don elaborated when he saw where Charlie was looking.

"The doctor explained." Barnathan said. "We just need a quick version to corroborate everything that your father and brother have told us."

Don fixed his gaze on Charlie. "I can do that."

Barnathan pulled a digital recorded from his pocket and laid it on the small table beside Don's bed. He opened his folder. "Your brother will have to wait outside with Wachowski while we do this."

"I know." Don looked back at him. "Charlie?"

"I understand." Charlie left his brother's bed. He glanced at his father as he headed out seeing that he was still asleep. Their voices had not woken him. Charlie continued out into the hall, Wachowski following. He had to leave Don alone to give his version, as one of the offenders he could be accused of influencing Don's statement if he remained. This statement may not be legally admissible but could still be considered during the investigative process. It just strengthened their defence case if all the versions given were the same.

He sat on the chair vacated by the FBI guard in his favour. After a few minutes Charlie understood how an agent could stand guard all night with such an uncomfortable chair to sit on. There was no way an agent call fall asleep on duty in that chair. A staffer pushing a large trolley down the hall stopped and took pity on the men waiting in the hall, coffee for the agents and tea for him.

Don's statement was brief, barely half an hour had passed according to his watch when Barnathan opened the door allowing him back in.

His father was now awake. "Hey, Dad."

"Charlie, my boy. Are you alright?"

_Everyone was worried about him_, Charlie thought. He was not the one in hospital although the doctor had indicated that Alan was going to be discharged in a few hours. "I'm fine, Dad. What about you?"

"Much better." Alan's colour was back to normal.

"So what happens now?" Don asked.

Charlie looked over at Don's question seeing that Barnathan was once again at the foot of the bed, packing away the recorder and closing the folder.

"Agent, I'm hoping to meet with the DA and the LAPD this afternoon and do a little information sharing." Barnathan outlined. "I would like to get your brother's matter finalized then. All going well, Doctor Eppes won't have to go through the formal investigation process with the locals."

"Did you give a formal interview, Charlie?"

Charlie nodded. "Under protest and duress."

"So the interview is inadmissible in court." Don concluded.

"Yes. But we can use it for information sharing purposes and possibly convince the DA not to proceed, eliminating the need for Doctor Eppes to be interviewed by the LAPD detectives."

"What about a lawyer?" Don asked.

"I didn't have one." Charlie admitted.

Don shook his head carefully. "Then run the interview past one before they present it to the DA, even if it is inadmissible." He instructed.

Obviously Don thought that he should have known better. "Don't worry. I've called one Megan recommended. He'll meet us back at the office and listen to the tape. We'll go from there."

"We think it would be better for Doctor Eppes if he could avoid the LAPD. From what I've heard they weren't too happy with the FBI when your Agent Reeves blocked them from arresting him at the office tower."

"Good." Don's lips had quirked upwards slightly. Charlie could imagine what Don was thinking. The smile abruptly disappeared. "What about Luke?"

"He's already made it clear that he's not going to speak with us. He's had surgery overnight to remove the bullet from his shoulder and we're going to have another go at him a little later." Barnathan said. "You didn't get any hint that he was working with anyone?"

"No. He seemed to be alone." Don confirmed. Charlie nodded as well.

"He was alone." Alan added.

Barnathan seemed to be convinced. Alan had spent the most amount of time with Luke and should be able to say definitively whether or not Luke had assistance or not. "Doctor Eppes, we have to go."

-100-1111-1110-

Don watched as Charlie left to be taken back to the FBI building, hopefully to get a few hours sleep while Barnathan put together his submission for the DA.

"How could you do that, Don?"

"Hunh?" _Do what?_

"How could you tell the story like that, as if it wasn't you?"

Alan had woken not long into his statement and had listened without comment as he'd calmly given a blow-by-blow account of everything that had happened. Don had treated it as if he were in court, keeping the emotion out of it as he concentrated on the facts. It would be the same when he finally got to write up his report. He'd had plenty of practice distilling an incident down to the facts. But his father's comment reminded him of something he wanted to know. "How could you not tell Charlie to drop the gun?"

"You of all people should understand why." His father finally said.

"Why?"

"You said you'd been there before and made your own choice not to pull the trigger."

"You didn't know that then." Don said after a moment's hesitation. It had been the only way he could think of at the time to talk Charlie down. But admitting in front of his family that he'd once been about to commit murder was something he would rather have not had to do.

"True. But I did know that he had to make the decision or else he would never be able to cope with it."

"'Cope with it'? You mean if he shot him?"

"No. Charlie wasn't going to shoot anyone." Alan answered confidently.

Leaving aside his own personal experience, Don had seen people on the edge before, had seen some pull away and others take the leap. He'd really not known which way Charlie was going to go. Part of him admitted though that he had expected to hear a loud bang signalling the end of both Luke's and Charlie's lives. "I'm not so sure on that, Dad."

Alan looked a little concerned at the doubt in his tone. "I was."

"He was going to do it for you, Dad." Don turned back to contemplate the ceiling. He took a deep breath and noted that the pain medication was wearing off. That was okay, he didn't mind a bit of pain. He'd felt other pain back in that office, other pain that had only one cure. By the time he'd had the means to that cure he was past the point of collapse. He added softly: "If I'd had the gun no-one would have talked me down."

There was a sudden, deep stillness from the other bed. Don refused to turn to look but felt his father's penetrating gaze.

"Donny," Alan finally said in a very firm tone. "You will never, ever do that. No matter what ever happens to me, or to your brother. Never. Do. That."

--


	16. Chapter 16 Coda

**Numb3rs – Disarmed**

**Disclaimer** – I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.

_**A/N:** This is the final chapter, very short but hopefully clears everything up. The Eppes are recovering and things are going to get fully back to normal soon. Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed, comments as always are very much appreciated and affect the flow of the story._

_CHAPTER SIXTEEN - CODA_

-100-1111-1110-

"Are you sure you're up to this?" Don asked.

Charlie stopped his nervous fidgeting to look at him with a degree of surprise. "Me? I'm not the one who just got out of hospital."

Don waited. He had been released this morning with strict instructions to go home and rest for another two weeks. After that and further X-rays the doctor would consider whether or not he could go back to work on restricted light duties. He'd been home for all of two hours, but he was now sitting in a car with his younger brother in the parking lot out the front of the math building at CalSci. Megan had just stepped out of the car to give them a moment of privacy before they committed.

They were at the university for a follow up critical incident stress debriefing being run by CalSci's counsellor for the hostages. The former hostages had already been debriefed as a group within the critical 48 hour window and had each received individual sessions as well. The counsellor had then decided on a final session, inviting the last hostage, Don to participate. Controversially the counsellor had then invited Charlie, the HT himself. Don had queried the advisability of that but the counsellor had explained that some of the former hostages had actually suggested wanting to meet Charlie now that the details had emerged as to why the incident had occurred.

The counsellor had also suggested that confronting the HT in the very office at CalCsi where they'd all been held would help resolve any lasting 'issues'.

It had taken Charlie a day and a meeting with his own counsellor, Bradford, to decide if he would accept. Don was pleased that Charlie had accepted his suggestion to seek his own therapy and Bradford had offered to undertake that role. They were scheduled for their own joint session in a few days. Don and Charlie both had their own issues to work through. Once that was over there would be another session with their father.

Megan was not just their driver having collected them both from home, she was to also attend the CalSci session as a 'safety measure'. Her official FBI presence was to alleviate any lingering fears that the former hostages might have at being once again in the same room as the HT. She was not going to actually participate in any way and would in fact wait outside if Charlie was accepted into the group. The rules had been explained to them all prior to their final acceptance and attendance. This was now their last chance to back out. It was also Charlie's final hurdle to returning to work.

Barnathan's intervention with the DA had spared Charlie the attention of the LAPD detectives, Norton and Hickman. The DA had held the matter over for a few days until the formal statements from Don, Alan and the former hostages were obtained. The DA also considered the evidence presented by the DHS, FBI and LAPD before ruling that charges were not going to be brought against the math professor due to the clear defence of duress that he could raise.

Charlie had spent those few days under strict house arrest being guarded by both LAPD and FBI. He was lucky, the professor could have spent the time in a holding facility but Merrick and Barnathan had enough pull to prevent that. Once the DA handed down his decision Charlie was free to return to his life.

Initially Don was somewhat surprised that there had not been any objections from the former hostages when they were notified of the decision. But then he had seen the statements and the general tone of forgiveness that flowed from them. Despite being terrified at being held at gunpoint by a masked man they had all spoken of the care the HT had taken not to deliberately cause them additional distress. It seemed that Charlie had done everything during the incident to make things as calm and safe for the hostages as he could whilst still maintaining control over them. That followed with Don's own observations at the time of how Charlie was carefully not pointing the weapon at any hostage. It also explained the requests by the former hostages to meet with Charlie.

"I'm ready." Charlie finally said, resolutely opening his door.

END

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End file.
